The prevalence of medical errors in Nigeria is 42.8%. The three most common errors committed by the participants were an error of medication prescription (95.2%), error of radio-laboratory investigation ordering (83.9%), and error of physician diagnoses (69.4%).
99 per cent of the labs operating in Nigeria – private and public – do not have any form of laboratory quality management system in place. Nigeria is more like a dumping ground for fake, substandard, unvalidated kits and devices. We are second only to South Africa and Egypt.
140 nurses and 90 doctors approached responded. Inter-professional differences in response to sentinel events showed that 39.3% nurses and53.3% doctors would never report wrong medicines administered and 35.5% nurses and 38.9% doctors never report a haemolytic transfusion error.
Quoting a study conducted by Ogunleye et al on medication errors among health care professionals in 10 tertiary hospitals, he said 35.5 percent of 2386 professionals that participated in the study reported medication error, while 33.4 percent did not think reporting was necessary.
About 97.5% were aware of medical errors, while 89.1% agree that many doctors do commit medical errors.
Among the respondents, only 66% admitted to have ever committed medical errors with wrong diagnosis and wrong prescription being the most common areas of errors.
Research shows that this one has done more for the health sector in terms of quality control than all the health ministries combined who can’t regulate simple Agbo sellers.
A personal experience from a practitioner
How i became “HIV Postive” during house job.
After getting placement in UPTH for Housemanship, it was time for medicals.
I went to the lab, and samples were taken. When the results came out, the Med Lab lady wrote, “HIV result : “indeterminate ” It meant she wasn’t sure and I needed to redo it in 3 months. Her boss confirmed it, they did 3 tests and it was indeterminate.
My heart left me, I started thinking back and forth how I could have gotten HIV.
One thing I was sure of was that I was celibate when I got born again in UI in 100 level. I hadn’t had sex all through medical school for 6 plus years. I was asking myself how it was possible. Was it through haircut? I researched and saw a little probability.
When I met the family physician for examination, the topic came up again. I had to tell him I was celibate and couldn’t understand where it came from.
I was having sleepless nights. Satan will tell me every morning, “You will soon die because you have HIV”
I wasn’t sure if I was in my window period. I couldn’t even tell anyone.
For 3 months, I was having battles of the mind. When it was the 3rd month, I bought the kit myself. I knelt down and prayed the deepest tongues I knew, I was sweating and shaking, i pricked myself and poured the blood.
I needed to wait 15 minutes.
Those 15 minutes seemed like 20 years.
1 line appeared, I started praying so second line would not appear. My heartbeat was pounding in my ear. I had a knife close by waiting to take my life if I became positive. 15 minutes passed, no second line. I picked it up, opened the window and checked if there is a line I wasn’t seeing, nothing.
I waited another 10 minutes. Nothing.
I sat down, laughed and cried for 30 minutes.
When I got myself, I made eba and ate.
I didn’t pass by that UPTH lab for 3 weeks because of trauma.
Nigeria has over 1000 ways to mess your life up. When we fight against systems like ours, it’s because the mess up will reach everyone, and no healthcare worker is exempted.
Picture: UPTH Surgery Ward, 2013.
Source: Baridueh Badon
ON Rivalry Among Health Workers
Did you know doctors and other health workers sometimes exchange punches in the hospital?
For every strike action in Nigerian hospitals, 70% of them are rivalry related, and thousands of patients die because of it.
Initially, there were many associations, pharmacists, nurses, Medical Lab Scientists etc. At a point, they felt they were not fighting doctors effectively, so they formed JOHESU.
If medical doctors strike today for salary increase and the government responds, JOHESU land one strike asking the government why they responded to the Doctors first. They will lock everything in the hospital just to leave doctors stranded 😂. 500 patients will die 😢
When the government responds to JOHESU, doctors will strike again, asking why the government responded 😂.
500 patients will die 😢
JOHESU will say they want to be called consultants and should receive the same pay. Doctors will shout taaahh!! “We are the only ones to be called consultants.” JOHESU will go on strike, 500 patients will die 😢
At a point in UCH, they created the Nurse Consultant role. Omo, Consultant Matron started having her own ward round. When the consultant surgeon comes for rounds, the nurse will not show up. She will say, ” I have done my rounds as a consultant.”
A doctor will write a wrong prescription. When a pharmacist corrects it, the doctor will shout, “i am a doctor, I know what i am doing!”
When a doctor writes a good prescription, a pharmacist can just change it at the counter without talking with the doctor or knowing the total details of the patient.20,000 patients will die 😢
Doctors think they are only qualified to be CMDs, JOHESU is saying they can lead too.
This rivalry is so ingrained into the young workforce to the extent that they can’t even collaborate effectively on innovative strategies.
However, when they get all get a job in a private hospital or move abroad to work, everyone obeys authority. No patient dies.
Yes, the patient is the lab rat, the poor one who can’t afford travelling abroad or a good private hospital.
@BadonB on X
