ABQAURP News
APIC Offers Free Guide to Infection Prevention in Emergency Services
Emergency medical services system (EMS) responders provide the first point of care in unique environments and are at often at high risk of exposure to biohazards and infectious diseases. Understanding the critical importance of infection prevention in the daily delivery of care is imperative.
Welch Allyn EcoCuff Helps Hospitals Control Cross-Contamination, Costs and Environmental Impact
Welch Allyn has launched its new FlexiPort® EcoCuff™ single-patient-use blood pressure cuff. As hospitals continue to fight the never-ending battles against both cross-contamination and rising costs, EcoCuff provides a solution for both issues while also having less environmental impact than other disposable blood pressure cuffs.
PDC-St. John Expands its Securline Bar Code Blood Band
PDC-St. John announced the extension of its Securline® Hybrid Style Bar Code Blood Band. The blood recipient ID wristband system provides automated patient identification for blood transfusion, specimen collection, and tracking to improve patient safety and workflow efficiencies in hospitals and blood banks. With the addition of six new Blood Band product lines, PDC-St. John now offers the widest selection of blood bank ID solutions in the healthcare marketplace.
Teamwork, Engagement, and Technology to Improve Safety and Experience
The latest issue of Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare (PSQH) reflects the diversity of efforts needed for safety improvement. From medical simulation to mentoring programs, IV medication safety, fall prevention, human factors engineering, and engaging patients and families as true partners, the issue offers practical advice for improving care delivery.
Joint Commission Alert: Medical Device Alarm Safety in Hospitals
The constant beeping of alarms and an overabundance of information transmitted by medical devices such as ventilators, blood pressure monitors and ECG (electrocardiogram) machines is creating “alarm fatigue” that puts hospital patients at serious risk, according to a Sentinel Event Alert issued by The Joint Commission.
Integrated Solution Helps Improve Pediatric Patient Safety, Streamline IV Medication Management
Integrated Solution Helps Improve Pediatric Patient Safety, Streamline IV Medication Management
Among the most common and dangerous types of medication error are errors made in administering medications intravenously—especially when the patient is a child.
Mentoring Programs: Essential for Sustaining a Culture of Safety
Mentoring Programs: Essential for Sustaining a Culture of Safety
An effective mentoring program can strengthen a healthcare enterprise’s performance in many areas, including quality improvement, risk management, personnel recruitment and retention, staff education, and leadership. By enhancing staff knowledge and team integration, mentoring programs help support an enterprise-wide culture of safety, which, in turn, helps minimize adverse patient occurrences and related financial losses. This article examines the theory and practice of mentoring, focusing on how adult learning strategies and ongoing managerial support can improve mentor-mentee rapport and produce better outcomes for participating individuals and the organization.
A Team Approach to Fall Prevention
A Team Approach to Fall Prevention
Falls are a growing health concern, especially within the acute care arena. A fall is defined as “an event which results in a person coming to rest inadvertently on the ground or floor or other lower level” (Johnson et al., 2011). More than 30% of adults age 65 and older fall each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011), and up to 50% of adults age 85 and older fall each year (Bohl et al., 2010). With the aging population, the incidence of falls is only expected to increase.
Enhancing Clinical Education and Training, Improving Care
Enhancing Clinical Education and Training, Improving Care
More than a decade ago the Institute of Medicine published its landmark study, To Err is Human (2000), documenting an unacceptably high rate of medical errors, many of them resulting from poor clinical decision-making. In fact, surgeons in the United States make medical errors more than 4,000 times a year, which can result in permanent injury or death. These types of preventable errors include wrong-site surgery, retained surgical items, wrong-patient surgery, and wrong-procedure surgery, causing nearly half of the affected patients to suffer temporary injury (Landro, 2012).