Accreditation & Regulation
Joint Commission Alert: Violence Rising at Health Care Facilities
A new Joint Commission Sentinel Event Alert warns that health care facilities today are being confronted with steadily increasing rates of crime, including assault, rape, and murder.
Technology
Innovative Software Cuts Costs and Time for States to Report Hospital Quality Information to the Public
The Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS’s) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) unveiled MONAHRQ—My Own Network Powered by AHRQ—a free, MS® Windows®-based software application that significantly reduces the cost and time a State, hospital or other organization would need to spend to compile, analyze and post data on quality of hospital care, its cost and how that care is used.
Medication Safety
Pfizer and Epocrates Partner to Give Healthcare Providers Access to Medical Information Specialists for Medication Questions
Pfizer Inc. and Epocrates, Inc., announced a collaboration to give healthcare providers (HCPs) mobile access to the Pfizer Medical Information Group to obtain scientific answers to their product questions or to report an adverse event.
Patient Safety
Expecting More Medical Errors Due to Health Care Reform, Safety Expert Steve Harden Releases Patient’s Manual on Getting Mistake-Free Care
Nationally recognized patient safety expert Steve Harden has released his step-by-step guide to getting safer health care. The book, “Never Go to the Hospital Alone – and other insider safety secrets for getting mistake-free care from your doctor and hospital” is an in-depth, consumer-friendly guide on how to avoid being one of the 100,000 people who will die accidentally this year due to medical error.
Patient Safety
NPSF’s Patient Safety Congress and Community Engagement
I look forward each spring to attending the National Patient Safety Foundation’s (NPSF) Patient Safety Congress for great education and networking opportunities. I especially look forward to the pre-conference programs NPSF offers, which this year (May 17–19) added a half-day on medical simulation to the customary full-day sessions on leadership and community engagement.
Team Training
CAPS Partners with Transparent Learning to Promote Award-Winning Video
“The Story of Lewis Blackman” is an award-winning film that chronicles the experience of a vibrant, healthy 15-year-old boy who entered the hospital for what was believed to be a low-risk medical procedure.
Infection Control
IV Needleless Connector Design Can Help Prevent CR-BSI, Says Nursing Journal
A recently published article on the care and maintenance of ccentral venous access devices describes the benefits of intraluminal protection connectors for preventing catheter-related bloodstream infections (CR-BSI).
Patient Safety
Emergency Nurses Release New Guidelines for Patient Transfers
The Emergency Nurses Association’s (ENA) Institute for Quality, Safety and Injury Prevention announced the release its new Safer Handoff Guidelines to help facilitate safer transfer of patients between long-term and emergency care facilities.
Patient Safety
Rocky Mountain Patient Safety Organization Selects ECRI Institute PSO for Patient Safety Reporting and Analysis
Colorado hospitals will now be able to share critical information and learn from one another’s experiences like never before as The Rocky Mountain Patient Safety Organization (RMPSO), one of the first federally qualified Patient Safety Organizations (PSO), becomes operational in Colorado.
Environment and Facilities
New Fall Alarm Sensor for Lightweight Patients Reduces Risk of Falls
AliMed has released a revolutionary new fall alarm sensor for beds and chairs that is based on proximity, not pressure. Unlike most fall alarm sensors that require weight to operate, this new sensor works on the closeness of the patient.