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Exchange of resources by nurses can help avoid the medical errors.
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From a theoretical perspective, the issue of medical errors has a significant relationship with nursing knowledge and the social aspect of nurses. This implies that exchange of social resources within the clinical setting can address the problem of medical errors; primarily in nursing practice where nurses’ interactions and collaboration with other healthcare providers underpins delivery of evidence based nursing care. Therefore, it is apparent that the social exchange theory is appropriate for solving medical errors.
In principle, social exchange theory presents a sociological approach to negotiated exchanges involved in social change and stability. This theory shares a close relationship to structuralism and rational choice theory. The basic concepts of the social exchange theory revolve around cost and rewards. According to Lambe, Wittmann and Spekman (2001), exchange, as conceptualized in the social exchange theory, is a social behavior that exhibits social and economic outcomes. As such, it is presumed that social exchange generates satisfaction in situations where costs are covered by fair returns. In this case, relationship decisions are based on costs and rewards. As explained by the social exchange theory, costs can be defined as elements of rational life with undesirable consequences to an individual, whereas rewards are the positive returns from a relationship. Overall, this theory has several assumptions related to human nature and relationship. One of these assumptions is that humans are rational beings. The second assumption is that humans avoid punishments and seek rewards. Third, it is assumed that humans use diverse standards in evaluating rewards and costs. Finally, it is postulated that rational life occurs as a process and that relationships are interdependent (West & Turner, 2007).
Additionally, there are several theoretical prepositions that structure human behaviors in the context of rewards and costs. The first preposition holds that behaviors that generate appreciable outcomes tend to be repeated. Second, it is stated that rewarding an individual’s behavior promotes its execution. Third, it is postulated that the value of reward diminishes upon subsequent repetition (Cook & Rice, 2013). Concisely, the social exchange theory holds that individuals minimize costs by pursuing rewards.