1 3 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A P R I L 2 0 1 7
Some adverse patient outcome are unavoidable. Just ask
anesthesiologist Kenneth P. Rothfield, MD, MBA, CPPS, sys-
tem vice president, chief medical officer and chief quality offi-
cer at St. Vincent's Healthcare in Jacksonville, Fla.
Around Thanksgiving 2015, Dr. Rothfield underwent laparo-
scopic bilateral hernia repair. He went to a surgeon he knew
and trusted, and the operation "couldn't have gone any bet-
ter." He can't say the same of his recovery; he developed
sepsis and had to endure an extended hospital stay.
"There was no medical error — just bad luck," he says. "I
thought I knew so much, and you find out you don't until you've
walked in those shoes. I think it happened to me to
give me more authority as a leader, more tools to
communicate and more tools around patient safe-
ty."
The experience also underscored the
importance of treating patients like
people.
"In a culture of safety, you never treat
the patient as a task or a room number
or a disease," he says. "There were a
couple of nurses in particular that took
great care of me. Their compassion made
all the difference." — Bill Donahue
CULTURE OF SAFETY
Compassion Trumps Adverse Outcomes
• SHOW COMPASSION Dr. Rothfield says he was reminded of an important
lesson while recovering from surgical complications: "Never treat the patient
as a task or a room number or a disease."
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
SURGICAL
ERRORS
