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How does a doctor’s stress level impact prescription errors?

On Behalf of | Aug 13, 2022 | Medical Malpractice

After taking the medicine a professional prescribed you, you may begin to notice some severe physical symptoms that leave you feeling weak and sick.

These kinds of prescription errors can come from many sources, but one major one is an overwhelmed or negligent doctor. Determining what to do after this malpractice is the next step you should take after learning about why it happens in the first place.

Poor communication

According to the National Library of Medicine, if your doctor fails to ask you basic questions about what medications you are already taking or other health-related topics, it could be a sign of poor communication. You may also notice them not looking at you or answering your questions.

Many times, stressed doctors could feel distracted by multiple people or noises at once. Missing one answer from a patient can lead to a wrong prescription or an improper dosage.

Forgetfulness

When dealing with medicine that requires multiple steps or unique methods to take, you often need more instructions from medical professionals. If a doctor is rushing to finish up the visit, they could neglect to tell you or write down these steps.

Doctors are also expected to fulfill many roles in a hospital, which means their time with you may be short. They may even only use abbreviations and assume you understand what they are saying without explanation while forgetting to explain the importance of the instructions.

Confusion

If they are under pressure, a doctor may not spell a certain name of a medicine correctly. They could instead accidentally write down a similar-sounding name that is a completely different drug.

Dealing with prescription errors can be frustrating, but knowing how stress impacts a medical professional is important.

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