We saw that risk management involves playing the devil’s advocate and asking, “What could go wrong?” Creating scenarios and thinking through situations will help you understand the nature of the risk better. This is your exercise for the week.
Create three fictional incidents for the risk area you selected in Week 1(Surgery). Write about each scenario in not more than 2 pages. Include the following information about each scenario:
Details of the incident—What, where, when, and who?
Explain the cause—How and why?
Include an introduction, conclusion and reference page to this assignment.
cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.
Sample solution
Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell.
In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.
God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.
Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.
To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.
References
Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.
Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.
Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.
Sample Answer
Sample Answer
Risk Scenarios in Surgery: A Fictional Exploration
Introduction
Risk management in surgery is a critical aspect of healthcare delivery, aiming to anticipate potential issues, prevent adverse events, and enhance patient safety. In this exercise, we will explore three fictional incidents in the field of surgery, each presenting unique challenges and risks that healthcare professionals may encounter. By examining these scenarios, we can better understand the complexity of surgical risks and the importance of proactive risk management strategies.
Scenario 1: Wrong-Site Surgery
Details of the Incident: In a busy urban hospital, a patient scheduled for a right knee replacement surgery is mistakenly prepped and operated on the left knee. The error is discovered post-operatively, leading to confusion, distress for the patient, and potential legal implications.
Explain the Cause: The cause of this incident can be attributed to breakdowns in communication, inadequate verification processes, and reliance on memory rather than standardized protocols. Factors such as time pressure, distractions in the operating room, and lack of clear marking or verification of the surgical site contribute to the error.
Scenario 2: Surgical Site Infection Outbreak
Details of the Incident: Following a series of orthopedic surgeries in a rural hospital, several patients develop surgical site infections (SSIs) caused by a common pathogen. The infections lead to prolonged hospital stays, additional treatments, and concerns about the hospital’s infection control practices.
Explain the Cause: The outbreak of SSIs can be linked to lapses in sterile techniques, inadequate hand hygiene practices, contaminated surgical instruments, or environmental factors contributing to bacterial transmission. Poor adherence to infection prevention protocols, suboptimal sterilization procedures, or overcrowding in operating rooms may have facilitated the spread of pathogens.
Scenario 3: Retained Surgical Instrument
Details of the Incident: During a complex abdominal surgery in a teaching hospital, a surgical team realizes post-operation that a surgical sponge was inadvertently left inside the patient. The patient experiences complications, requiring a second surgery to remove the retained instrument.
Explain the Cause: The retention of a surgical instrument can result from inefficient instrument counts, lack of clear communication among team members, or distractions during the procedure. Inadequate tracking of surgical tools, fatigue among surgical staff, or incomplete checklists for instrument retrieval may contribute to such incidents.
Conclusion
These fictional scenarios highlight the multifaceted nature of risks in surgical settings and underscore the importance of robust risk management practices in healthcare. By proactively identifying potential risks, implementing standardized procedures, enhancing team communication, and fostering a culture of safety, healthcare organizations can minimize adverse events, improve patient outcomes, and uphold quality standards in surgical care.
References
– Smith, A. F., & Mishra, K. (2020). Wrong-site surgery and retained surgical items: A review of surgical “never events.” Journal of Perioperative Practice, 30(5), 144-148.
– Tanner, J., Padley, W., Assadian, O., & Leaper, D. (2015). KiSS: Keep it small and simple – how to implement a national quality improvement program to reduce surgical site infections. Journal of Hospital Infection, 89(4), 189-195.