Fall Prevention: No, Falls Are Not Inevitable
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Fall Prevention: No, Falls Are Not Inevitable
Patients fall. It’s a fact of hospital life. Weakened by illness or surgery, confused by medication or aging, patients try to do more than they can and the result is often a fall. It might be a fall from bed, a fall while trying to walk unsupported, a fall when trying to get up from a chair. These things happen all too regularly. As caregivers, your job is to prevent those falls from happening.
Patient Safety Technology Advocates to be Honored at The 8th Annual unSUMMIT For Bedside Barcoding
On April 24-26, in Orlando, Florida, the TerraPharma Project, LLC will convene hospital executives, pharmacists, nurses, safety directors, and information technology professionals at The 8th Annual unSUMMIT for Bedside Barcoding.
Lahey Health Invests in New Electronic Health Record System for Better Coordinated Care
Lahey Health recently announced a major investment in a new state-of-the-art electronic health record (EHR) software that will improve access to patient information and achieve greater care coordination throughout the Lahey Health system.
AARP Report Reveals How Top Hospitals Fight Errors and How Patients Can Protect Themselves
Each year, more than 180,000 people die in U.S. hospitals from preventable accidents and errors. What’s more, an estimated one-third of hospital admissions result in harm to a patient. To call attention to these tragic realities, AARP The Magazine teamed up with the nonprofit organization The Leapfrog Group to highlight the innovative steps some hospitals are taking to protect the health of their patients.
Denominators Count, Too
Editor’s Notebook
Denominators Count, Too
In patient safety, it’s usually better to a denominator than a numerator, to be among the average folks than among the exceptions that prove the rule, to be among those who represent the baseline than among the few who deviate from the norm, to be among those in whom risk slumbers, not among those in whom risk is revealed.
News
News
Red Flags that Represent Credible Threats to Patient Safety
ISMP
Red Flags that Represent Credible Threats to Patient Safety
Disruptive behaviors, intimidation in the workplace, and a culture of disrespect among healthcare professionals have repeatedly surfaced as significant barriers to patient safety. The hierarchical nature of patient care and the autonomy with which healthcare professionals have been taught to practice set the stage for a culture that does not respond well to even the slightest queries about possible problems with patient care, particularly from subordinates. It’s clear that such a culture needs to be repaired, and many healthcare organizations are working to address disrespectful behavior, staff reluctance to speak up about risks and errors, and blatant disregard of expressed concerns.
The Eyes Have It
Health IT & Quality
The Eyes Have It
As we continue down the path toward digitized medical records, the challenges we face become incrementally harder. Moving from the HIMSS Analytics Stage 0 to Stage 1 where three ancillaries—lab, radiology, pharmacy—are all driven by healthcare information technology systems, is not a difficult jump.
Design Principles for Manual Safety Systems
Human Factors
Design Principles for Manual Safety Systems
Safety systems can be added to a wide variety of medical devices ranging from relatively simple sharps protection for scalpels and syringes to the most complex systems, such as multi-parameter monitors and ventilators. In general, added safety takes one of two forms. The first is when the technology is made inherently safer as a result of eliminating or mitigating hazards at the most fundamental level. The second is when technological safety elements are added to the design in order to prevent a variety of use errors.
Medical Simulation: A Holistic Approach to Highly Reliable Healthcare
Medical Simulation:
A Holistic Approach to Highly Reliable Healthcare
In the next three decades, significant demands will be placed on healthcare systems worldwide. Economic progress in rapidly developing countries and federal mandates closer to home will envelope greater numbers of patients in the healthcare net. In addition, in most parts of the western world, an aging population and rising levels of obesity will further challenge the status quo.