A lot of things can go wrong in any career, but it's crucial to try to avoid any mistakes, especially in a healthcare environment. It’s someone’s life and health that you are responsible for. I have seen first-hand the effects of negligence on a patient. My sister was only 22 and was going to have her appendix removed, and instead they removed her fallopian tubes! It all came down to the fact that a nurse, working overtime, had mixed up my sister's file with that of another patient. My cousin was rushed to the ER and ICU for 2 weeks because a doctor left part of a sponge inside her every time she had a hysterectomy. It's so scary to think about things like this. They are called “never events” because they are serious incidents that should never have happened and could have been avoided (Reid, 2013). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay. If both of these accidents happened when someone made a mistake with a chart or didn't pay enough attention (DURING THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE SURGERY), imagine the problems that could arise if someone was reading a chart and mixing up the abbreviations. While these two incidents that occurred did not involve an abbreviation mix-up, it very well could have been. I think it would be easier to make the mistake of confusing an abbreviation than forgetting a sponge inside someone! While doctors using medical abbreviations could make their workflow more efficient and get more work done in less time, it can also cause problems. such as enigmaticness and ambiguity (Tulane University School of Medicine, 2012). I have repeatedly received written prescriptions or instructions from the doctor and been unable to read them. This always made me wonder how pharmacists could sometimes read them. I understand why some abbreviations could be fatal. In 2007, at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (IOM), a doctor's illegible handwriting (numerous errors due to unclear abbreviations and dosages) was responsible for more than 7,000 deaths and injures more than 1.5 million people each year (Caplan, 2007). Some doctors have now moved from pen and paper to electronic prescriptions. 90% of the approximately 550,000 doctors have access to the Internet, but less than 10% of them have started using electronic prescribing systems (Caplan, 2007). Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized document from our expert now. writers.Getting a Custom Essay Although most are honest mistakes, it is still something that could be avoided. I think it's worth taking the extra time to write something, if it means the life or death of a patient. No matter how much time someone saves by cutting corners, it will NEVER be worth more than someone else's life..