Joint Commission’s New Emergency Management Checklist
The Joint Commission published a new Emergency Management Health Care Environment Checklist on its website, which helps healthcare organizations that are reopening their facilities after a disaster.
How to Protect Patients and Staff From What Could Be a Long Flu Season
The study, published in the October issue of the journal Science, presents evidence that flu incidence tends to fluctuate depending on environmental moisture levels, population density, and activity levels of the general population.
Study: More Than Half of Hospital Infections Could Be Prevented With Proper Protocols
The September release of the study was timed to coincide with Outbreak Prevention and Response Week, hosted by SHEA and key partners to raise awareness and provide resources to healthcare professionals, the infection prevention community, patients, and families on ways to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
Part One: ECRI Tech Hazards 2019
There are new additions to this year’s list, including retained surgical items and patient lift systems. Several experts discuss the top 10 issues and about steps that can be taken to prevent them to guide readers in the upcoming year.
TJC Releases Compliance and Sentinel Event Stats for First Half of 2018
The latest list, published in the September issue of Perspectives, shows the standards scored most frequently as “not compliant” during Joint Commission accreditation surveys and certification reviews from January 1 through June 30, 2018.
Using Patient Engagement to Reduce Diagnostic Errors
The research features an examination of 184 narratives from patients or family members about diagnostic errors collected in a new database maintained by the Empowered Patient Coalition.
Brace Yourself, Winter is Coming
Most areas, and hospital facilities, are ready for the typical snowstorm. But are you ready for a truly bad snowstorm that can leave a region crippled for days, or even weeks at a time?
A Novel Approach to Hospital Efficiency
While recognizing the value of many traditional utilization management processes, including labor productivity, staffing ratios, bed type assignments, throughput initiatives, and supply chain management, the team’s goal was to find new opportunities for improved resource management in bedside care delivery.
Call to Action: Long-Standing Strategies to Prevent Accidental Daily Methotrexate Dosing Must Be Implemented
Relatively few medications are dosed weekly; thus, accidental daily dosing of oral methotrexate has occurred all too frequently. This type of wrong-frequency error has originated in all stages of the medication use process, from prescribing to self-administration.
Guided Reflection: A Strategy to Reduce Patient Falls and Fall-Related Injuries
Our center, the 206-bed Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, was still experiencing falls despite having a comprehensive fall prevention program in place. Prior to implementing the AHRQ (2013) fall prevention toolkit the same year of the toolkit’s release, we recorded 160 patient falls. After our nursing division implemented the toolkit, we recorded 143 patient falls.