Considering consequences is something that plays a pivotal part in a nurses decision making on a day to day basis, that is not news to us as a profession. Sadly, I have come to think about the consequences of our actions in light of the tragedy that has befallen us as nurses in losing one of our own in such unfortunate circumstances. My heart goes out to the family of Jacintha Saldanha, I wish them well in recovering from this horrible situation.
The situation did however make me think about considering the consequences of our actions. The fact is, if we as nurses do not stop to think about our course of action and the likely possible outcomes based on passed experiences, it could lead to people suffering and a scenario from which we can't go back. When I think about my past experiences, I think about the things that I would have done differently. Itq doesn't matter how much I try to imagine the things I would do differently, I made a mistake and it isn't the first time and it won't be the last. The differences is, I stopped to consider my actions at the time and after and I learnt from it. It is when people don't stop to think, that the outcome can be disastrous.
I happened to watch an interview with the two radio DJ's, involved in the hoax call to the King Edward VII Hospital on an Australian news channel, and although the two DJ's sounded genuinely sorry for what happened, the words "We didn't think" really hit home and I just couldn't get this phrase out of my head when it comes to the idea of consequences. Seriously, what does this interview have to do with nursing?
Whenever I have heard about serious mistakes or errors in practise that has resulted in harm or severe consequence to our patients the common theme I seem to notice is the lack of thinking prior to taking some action. In the end the two DJ's also said they were sorry and it was not what they planned. I don't doubt they are sorry but all it demonstrated to me was the lack of insight into possible consequences for the people on the receiving end of the joke.
We as nurses learn that making a mistake is an inevitable part of practise and that we are humans, not robots. There does come a point however when our patients would question whether we had really considered something prior to taking action if the outcome is dire or considered preventable. Cases such as those going to professional competence and conduct hearing at the NMC are full of cases where nurses did not stop and think, the exact same thing as these two DJ's .
All that aside, I also noticed that despite the practical job not going to plan, these to DJ's continued with the prank, it was meant to be fun, it was done everyday, they thought they would be hung up on, the outcome wasn't thought about, they were doing their job and when it came to the decision of airing the practical joke on national radio...the decision was out of their hands. I also might add, that these were their own words, uttered from their own mouths at interview.
It was like an epiphany, it was like so many stories in nursing where things had gone unintentionally wrong, the likeness what strikingly similar and I thought, surely there is a lesson nurses can take from this? The most obvious being, even when a situation seems normal, day to day practise, we still need to stop and think and make sure we are absolutely sure of our confidence in what we are doing before we pursue it, otherwise we may end up uttering the words to an NMC investigation panel "I didn't think"
Sadly, these two radio DJ's are finding out the hard way the consequences of not stopping to think. It has had the most tragic of outcomes, that in my opinion could have been avoided. Unfortunately for them, like many nurses who went wrong because they didn't think, they have to live with those consequences for the rest of their lives. Just something to think about.
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