Learning from Our Mistakes
// January 13th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Allied Health Education, Pharmacy General, Pharmacy Technician
On January 6, 2009 I posted an entry “Funny Pharmacy Video Spoof – Pharmacy Man” and erroneously credited the song Piano Man to Elton John….whereas it was actually a song by Billy Joel.
Several days later, a reader, Mike Stegeman, sent me an email bringing this mistake to my attention. I have since corrected the post, but kept my original mistake posted (just crossed through Elton John’s name). There is a greater lesson to be learned by us all from this occurrence.
While this mistake was not life-endangering, as are many medication errors, it is natural to want to fix our mistakes and try to move forward without bringing any extra attention to them. In healthcare, however, I believe that when mistakes are made we must not only correct them, but they should be discussed openly in an effort to prevent similar mistakes from happening in the future. We can not learn from mistakes that are hidden or covered up, so let’s admit to our errors, correct them as soon as possible, and then be open about our mistakes so that others can learn. Providing proper credit to Billy Joel is important, but discussing errors made in healthcare settings (no matter how insignificant they may seem) could help prevent future medication errors from happening.
My apologies to Mr. Joel and thanks to Mr. Stegeman.
