Digging Into the Patient Safety Risks From Hospital Mergers
The study’s authors found that after system expansions, healthcare institutions may experience significant changes in patient populations, including increases in general volume and in patients with demographic characteristics or conditions that a given facility might not have previously served.
Why the 2018 FGI Guidelines Account for ‘Patients of Size’ and How Your Facility Can, Too
The Guidelines now focus on safe handling for “patients of size,” a switch in terminology away from bariatrics that’s meant to account for not only a patient’s weight, but also height and distribution of weight throughout the body.
IHI Report Calls for Improved Home Care Safety
The report was produced by a panel of subject matter experts convened by IHI and funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. It notes that the increase of care provided in the home requires healthcare organizations to be cognizant of the many risks of harm in that setting.
Workplace Culture Could Drive Physician Burnout, Medical Errors
One study by researchers at the NYU School of Medicine found that physicians who work in small, independent primary care practices with five or fewer physicians report dramatically lower levels of burnout than the national average.
How ‘Smarter’ Smartphones Help Hospitals Safeguard Patients
Both patient safety and quality care depend on providing accurate, meaningful information to the right person at the right time. Today, smartphone platforms and apps not only facilitate timely handoffs—a cornerstone of patient safety—but also integrate with hospital system software to provide clinicians with data from EHRs, biomedical devices, and hospital pharmacies and laboratories.
New Patient Safety Panel Unveils Areas of Focus
The goal of the committee is to provide a coordinated response from the healthcare and public health sectors to reduce medical harm. The committee is creating a national action plan, which it hopes to implement by the start of next year. The group will meet quarterly, with subcommittees to work on the focus areas.
Joint Commission Issues Guidance on Identifying Human Trafficking Victims
When human trafficking cases are identified, a victim-centered response is recommended, according to The Joint Commission. Victims may not be ready to seek assistance, and an adult victim can’t be forced to report human trafficking. But if the victim is under 18 years old, the provider has a legal obligation to contact Child Protective Services.
AACN Issues Practice Alert on Reducing Alarm Fatigue
To help address this issue, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses released a Practice Alert at the end of May that outlines the evidence-based practices to reduce false or nonactionable clinical alarms and prevent alarm fatigue, with specific guidelines for both bedside caregivers and nurse leaders.
FDA Issues Recommendations to Prevent Surgical Fires
The FDA says healthcare workers who perform surgical procedures should be trained in practices to reduce surgical fires, including learning about factors that increase the risk of surgical fires, how to manage fires, periodic fire drills, how to use carbon dioxide fire extinguishers on or near patients, and evacuation procedures.
Annual Industry Survey: Second Victim Support
Respondents to the 2018 Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare Industry Outlook Survey indicated that second victim support is an emerging issue, albeit one that many facilities have still not tackled.