‘To err is human’ goes the famous saying. It is good to strive for perfection, but mistakes and errors are sometimes inevitable. The healthcare profession mandates perfection to a larger extent to avoid severe consequences. However, nurses and caregivers are human beings who tend to make mistakes. Such careers necessitate utmost care, and attention as patients’ well-being is at stake. Five common mistakes that one must avoid in this profession are listed below.

Documentation errors
It is the responsibility of nurses and caregivers to record the correct information about patients. However, nurses and caregivers might sometimes make documentation errors while inputting information into a system or filling in a form. The care and support required for the patient’s proper healing may only be provided if there is correct documentation. Some common documentation errors include not recording and charting the correct information about the patient history, treatments provided or stopped, nursing actions and instructions, changes in the patient’s conditions, and details for the care to be provided in the future. Incorrect documentation may have serious implications if the errors are grave. Therefore, people pursuing such careers must avoid documentation errors as much as possible to avoid serious repercussions.

Infection issues
The prevalence of infections in hospitals is a major issue. The nurse and caregiver can reduce the chances and possibility of infections on the hospital premises with the skills and training they have acquired. They are responsible for minimizing infections within the hospitals to avoid complications in the future. They must follow good hygiene practices and standard precautions while carrying out the duties required in nursing and caregiver jobs to provide healthcare support to patients. In addition, they must ensure they follow disinfection, cleaning, and implementing strategies to avoid infection.

Treatment errors
Errors with treatments are another mistake that nurses and caregivers must avoid at all costs. Some errors with the treatment include providing the wrong treatment to the patient, not analyzing the allergies with any treatment, giving the treatment to the wrong patient, and delivering the wrong dosage to a patient. These errors may have serious consequences, so caregivers must focus entirely on the proper treatment for the patient. It can be achieved by using patient-focused identifiers, verifying patients’ allergies with any treatment, consistently updating the list of treatments, and highlighting any critical diagnosis before the treatment.

Falls and accidents involving patients
Patient care and safety are of utmost significance in nursing and caregiver jobs. It has been found that patient falls and accidents are common in hospitals and lead to severe injuries and health complications. Therefore, it is the nurses’ and caregivers’ duty and responsibility to take preventive measures to stop and prevent such accidents. Numerous factors are responsible for these accidents that could occur during transfers and walking. Some of these are the effects of certain treatments, failure to check on patients consistently and regularly, not accompanying patients with mobility issues, and not keeping the required support mechanisms near the patients. Therefore, these mistakes should be avoided by nurses and caregivers to prevent severe injuries among patients.

Calling for help often or asking for no help
Another mistake that can be avoided in such jobs is calling for frequent help, and that too, without having the correct information in hand about the patient. It may not have severe consequences for the patients, but it may affect their careers negatively in the long run. One must be well-equipped with the correct information to get the right help at the right time. Also, it is not acceptable if one thinks they know it all. After gathering the correct information about the patient, it is also an excellent practice to call for help and make correct and quick decisions. The supervisor may provide the right help and quick support for the patient’s healing.

Rectifying a mistake
Even by following all the strategies with care, there are chances for some inevitable mistakes to happen. In such cases, the first thing to do is to acknowledge the mistake or error and report it to the authorities immediately. One must understand the reason behind the mistake and be proactive in finding the solution.

Mistakes are common and, sometimes, unavoidable, but errors in the nursing profession have serious consequences. Therefore, knowing how to mitigate the effects created by the error is necessary. Always observe the patients, keep track of their treatments, and be attentive to their needs to avoid mistakes.