Communication, both oral and written, remains one of the main reasons for medical errors. Although you are not being prepared to provide direct patient care, most individuals who work in healthcare do come across medical terminology frequently (if not daily) in their job. As you near the end of this course, it is probably clear to you that medical terminology is a different language. It is a language that, if not understood by the person speaking or writing the abbreviations as well as the receiver (the person carrying out the or interpreting the abbreviation), can be catastrophic.

For this assignment, please read the following short blog posts while reflecting on how you would feel if one of your loved ones suffered from a mistake, or if you were directly responsible for contributing to the harm of someone else because of your mistake. You will notice that one of the blogs is from 1988. That is considered very old in the healthcare world, but unfortunately, mistakes are still happening. This is to illustrate that healthcare still has a problem. Once you complete the readings, please answer the following questions in a 2-page double-spaced paper, while following the assignment rubric to guide you:

• Abbreviations May Save Minutes; Prohibiting Abbreviations May Save Lives
• Mistakes Flow From Medical Abbreviations as Easily as ABC
• Minor Errors in Medical Records Can Have Major Consequences
• Medical Translation Gone Wrong: 7 Devastating Medical Translation Errors

Use this template to complete the following:

• Starting on page 1 of your paper, please answer, in your own words, the following questions:
  1. After reading the first 3 blogs, do you think that healthcare should continue to use abbreviations? Why or why not?
  2. How can you personally help to prevent errors related to medical abbreviations in your future or current job?
  3. After reading blog 4, reflect on your feelings and respond to the following question: What do you think some strategies might be to make sure that a patient of any culture, ethnicity, or from another country understands the healthcare he or she is receiving in the United States?

Please feel free to provide real-life examples for these questions if you have them (respecting HIPAA, of course). If you don’t have real-life examples, you can answer the question based on your personal beliefs after reading the blogs. Please include each numbered question in your paper, followed immediately by your answer (see template).

This assignment should be 2 pages in length and should be double-spaced. Please see the rubric below to help guide you in your writing