Q&A: Joint Commission on Workplace Violence
The Joint Commission has released Sentinel Event Alert 59, which addresses violence—physical and verbal—against healthcare workers. Patient Safety Monitor Journal spoke with Victoria Fennel, of Compass Clinical Consulting, about the alert and healthcare’s culture of violence.
Hawaii Hospital Investigates Possible Legionella Outbreak
Doctors believe the deceased patient and another who has been released acquired Legionella outside the hospital. But the state Department of Health stepped in after learning two other patients developed symptoms after already being hospitalized, making it possible they contracted Legionnaire’s in the hospital.
NELP Report: OSHA Enforcement Has Steadily Declined Under Trump
A new National Employment Law Project report that showed that the number of OSHA inspectors continues to steadily fall under the Trump Administration, thus leading to a decline in OSHA enforcement overall.
Post-Colonoscopy Infection Rates Much Higher Than Previously Believed
The study’s researchers examined medical insurance data from 2014 to look at infection rates after colonoscopy and osophagogastroduodenoscopies procedures done at selected outpatient facilities in six states.
Sending Sepsis Patients Home May Not Harm Them
Peltan and his research team studied 8,239 adult ED sepsis patients at two tertiary hospitals and two community hospitals in Utah. The researchers found that 1,607 of the patients—19.5% of the total—were discharged rather than admitted to the hospital.
Quick Look: Immediate Jeopardy
It works like this: CMS catches wind of a severe safety violation at your facility and places it under IJ. You are then given a deadline to fix the problem and come up with a plan to ensure it never happens again—and if you don’t, CMS will revoke your facility’s Medicare and Medicaid funding.
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.
APIC Survey Sheds Light on IP Workforce
The results of the APIC MegaSurvey were released during a session at last week’s 45th annual APIC Conference in Minneapolis. Conducted in 2015, the survey was completed by 4,078 active APIC members, or about 31% of the organization’s membership.
Strategies That Support Effective and Cohesive Wayfinding
With the increased importance placed on patient satisfaction, effective wayfinding has become even more central to supporting care. While signage is an essential part of wayfinding—that spatial art and science of guiding healthcare visitors to their destination—it’s but one of many tactics that form a part of an effective wayfinding strategy.
Study: Critical Access Hospitals Face Infection Control Challenges
Public health officials reviewed infection prevention and control (IPC) practices at 36 Nebraska CAHs using the CDC’s IPC Assessment Tool. They found the largest gaps existed in the areas of injection safety, central line-associated bloodstream infection prevention, and catheter-associated urinary tract infection prevention, but problems were discovered in all IPC areas.