Workshop: Debriefing and Coaching Your Team Through Adverse Medical Events

Presentation Description / Summary: Adverse medical events and medical mistakes that result in "near misses" or patient death are an unfortunate reality in the challenging world of veterinary medicine. Examples of these types of events include: communication failures, diagnostic errors, medication errors, surgical complications, anesthesia-related errors or complications, and device or equipment failures. Sometimes, there are just bad outcomes and we wonder, is there something I could or should have done differently? In the aftermath of the event, the response of a hospital’s team and management can be positively or negatively transformative to the mindset and psyche of the individual(s) involved. While specialty practices often conduct morbidity and mortality rounds to talk about case management, most workplaces do not have policy or procedures in place to allow for timely debriefing with individuals. The focus of this presentation and workshop is to create an understanding of the potential impacts of adverse medical events on individuals and to provide insights into how hospital teams can create a psychologically safe environment, foster a blame-free culture, best support those involved in incidents, and develop actionable insights to preventing future adverse events.