Case Study 15 : PEER RELATIONS
Challenges
A healthcare professional discovers a serious error committed by a colleague in the management of a certain patient. At first glance, his options seem to be the following: to keep silent about it, to discuss the matter with his colleague, to discuss the matter with the hospital administration, or to inform the patient of the error. Before making his next move, however, he wishes to know the different factors for consideration in cases like this.
Question
What are some dimensions of peer relations?
Solutions
Health care workers experience the need to establish good personal relationships not only with their patients, but also with their colleagues. This stems from the reality that patient care is not an individual endeavor, but a highly cooperative one. Peer relationships involve not only technical procedures and processes, but also deeply human interactions including leadership, accountability, common decision making and cooperation in carrying out decisions, and adequate communication and mutual support. Thus, these relationships prove profoundly ethical.
Peer relations go beyond the confines of the department or the team managing the same patient. Better interpersonal relationships among health care professionals in general create a less stressful and more humane work atmosphere, redounding in higher group standards and better patient care. They furthermore minimize the need for legal recourse, such as penalties, or for patients defending their rights by all available economic, legal, and political means.
Given these considerations, what should be the professional’s attitude towards errors committed by peers? No single correct answer applies to all cases. Rather, each situation finds judgment according to the circumstances. But a guiding principle is always that of finding the best possible solution promoting to the extent possible the good of all: the patient, colleagues, and the profession itself.
