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Substandard Patient Care Paper

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Substandard Patient Care Paper
University of Phoenix

What is Substandard Care The level of patient care is a high priority for most health care professionals. Both the professional and patient desires smooth procedures and positive results. Unfortunately, every situation doesn’t end up on a positive note. This paper will examine the meaning of substandard patient care, discuss a professional experience with substandard patient care, and describe how it relates to quality care. Every organization in the health care field should avoid delivering substandard care to their patients. According to the Collins English Dictionary (2003), substandard is defined as, “falling short of some prescribed norm”. In other words, substandard patient care is care for patients that are below the facility’s standards. Substandard care can be a result of multiple factors. Negative situations can get worse from actions of the patient or their family members, which can be outside of the controls of the healthcare professional. Shortage of staff members such as nurses can also add to substandard patient care. Administrative failure is another factor that can add to substandard care. Wrong decisions made by the administrative staff can at times affect the patient as badly as a physician’s mistake. According to Cohen, Placitella, & Roth (2007), “The medical industry overall contributes to higher than necessary rates of [substandard patient care]. Although some errors are unavoidable, the industry could do much better” (para. 3). They support their opinion by stating that at times the medical industry is under-funded. Another issue in the medical industry that adds to substandard care is the health care industry’s “Inefficiency [that leads to] poorly used funds”. Cohen et al. (2007) continues by stating that substandard patient care is caused by “Over-busy doctors and other

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