title: Errors in palliative care: kinds, causes, and consequences: a pilot survey of experiences and attitudes of palliative care professionals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medical errors have recently been recognized as a relevant concern in public health, and increasing research efforts have been made to find ways of improving patient safety. In palliative care, however, studies on errors are scant.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to gather pilot data concerning experiences and attitudes of palliative care professionals on this topic.
  
  
  METHODS
  We developed a questionnaire, which consists of questions on relevance, estimated frequency, kinds and severity of errors, their causes and consequences, and the way palliative care professionals handle them. The questionnaire was sent to all specialist palliative care institutions in the region of Bavaria, Germany (n=168; inhabitants 12.5 million) reaching a response rate of 42% (n=70).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Errors in palliative care were regarded as a highly relevant problem (median 8 on a 10-point numeric rating scale). Most respondents experienced a moderate frequency of errors (1-10 per 100 patients). Errors in communication were estimated to be more common than those in symptom control. The causes most often mentioned were deficits in communication or organization. Moral and psychological problems for the person committing the error were seen as more frequent than consequences for the patient. Ninety percent of respondents declared that they disclose errors to the harmed patient. For 78% of the professionals, the issue was not a part of their professional training.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Professionals acknowledge errors-in particular errors in communication-to be a common and relevant problem in palliative care, one that has, however, been neglected in training and research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology I, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany. Isabel.Dietz@helios-kliniken.de
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dietz
authors.forename: Gian Domenico
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Borasio
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Molnar
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Müller-Busch
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plog
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Ralf J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Jox
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care; D010865:Pilot Projects