Critical Decision Making In A Medical Environment Case

Critical Decision Making in a Medical Environment
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Critical Decision Making for Providers
Critical thinking in a medical environment is an important aspect of professional accountability towards the delivery of quality health care. Medical professionals are expected to show traits that confirm their professionalism, which include confidence, open-mindedness, flexibility, creativity, intuition, intellectual integrity and reflection (Higgs, Jones, Loftus, & Christensen, 2008). They are also required to show cognitive skills in assessing, applying standards, information seeking, predicting, discriminating and transforming available knowledge into action (Jansen & Zwygart-Stauffacher, 2010). Decisions made by medical practitioners at all times are aimed at achieving patient safety and quality healthcare delivery. It is estimated that nursing personnel make decisions on after every half a minute, which always may be right or wrong (Levett-Jones et al. 2010). Good decisions made result in the achievement of the desired objectives, while bad decisions lead to unexpected problems. From the case study, Mike finds himself in a situation that requires decision making based on personal judgment. He has an opportunity to make the right decision and reduce risks, but he overlooks the need for critical thinking and makes a decision that poses a threat to him, other personnel and the patients. The paper analyzes Mike’s case, its impact on the safety of the facility users and the feasible solutions to avoid a repeat of the same in future.
Case Study
Mike, a Lab technician in the hospital, finds himself in a compromising situation as he reports to work one morning. He had been warned not to be late again or else he would lose his job, which he valued most as he was the sole provider for his family. He has a few minutes to clock in or otherwise, he will be considered late. However, there is a spilled fluid on the entrance of the hospital, which is hazardous, compromising the safety of the people walking into the hospital (Allied Health Community, 2017). By taking time to report to the concerned department, he would lose time and get late for work, risking employment termination. In deciding to consider personal interest over the safety of other people, he ignored the hazard and went on to clock in, and continued with his duties as usual. Later on, a patient slips and is injured, and blamed the hospital for not considering patient safety (Allied Health Community, 2017). Mike might have saved himself from the risk of termination due to being late, but now he got himself into further problems by ignoring a risk that has resulted in injury.
The failure by Mike to report the spillage created a hazardous environment within a facility that is expected to be safe for all users. The spillage resulted in a woman slipping and injuring herself, an issue that could have been avoided if Mike had reported the problem. Besides, Mike has placed himself in a compromising situation as he could be accused of ign...