HCPro.com: Briefings on Patient Safety

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August 2008 (Volume 9, Issue 8)	view entire issue

The Joint Commission releases 2009 National Patient Safety Goals
The Joint Commission's 2009 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG), which were released in June, include four new goals concerning infection control and patient identification during blood transfusions and two new requirements to the medication reconciliation goal. Major changes to existing goals that concern patient education were made to medication reconciliation and the Universal Protocol (UP).

Patient safety Q&A
Editor's note: The following is a column answering some recent questions from "Patient Safety Talk," an HCPro listserv that addresses many of the topics covered in BOPS. This month's questions are answered by Lisa Eddy, RN, CPHQ, senior consultant at The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro, Inc., in Marblehead, MA. To sign up for "Patient Safety Talk," send an e-mail request to owner-patientsafety_talk@hcpro.com.

Building a culture of safety into your patient safety plan
Editor's Note: The following excerpt is from the new HCPro book, The Patient Safety Officer's Handbook, by Lisa Khanna, RN, BSN. Visit www.hcmarketplace.com to find out more about this book and other strategies to aid your med-ication reconciliation process. Healthcare as an industry has developed in an environment that does not foster safety. Some of the factors that contribute to the underreporting of errors are: Potential litigation Power gradient (Some professions are viewed as more powerful than others) Lack of understanding of other professionals' roles

Distractive environments: Mitigating complacency
Editor's note: The following is part of a series about human error and its role in medical error. This month, Robert J. Latino, executive vice president of the Reliability Center, Inc., in Hopewell, VA, discusses the internal and external factors affecting complacency in the workplace and its effect on human error. During our employment, when do we become comfortable to the point at which our complacency becomes dangerous? Complacency, as defined by Merriam-Webster's Online, is "self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies." Let's explore the various stages of complacency, and perhaps we can conduct a self-evaluation to see where on the spectrum we are.

Experts urge hospitals to identify disparities in healthcare
A new report released by The Joint Commission calls on hospitals to improve patient care by eliminating racial and ethnic disparities. In April, The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO) released One Size Does Not Fit All: Meeting the Needs of a Diverse Population, a report that found that "racial and ethnic disparities are linked to poorer health outcomes and lower quality care." This report is one of a few recent efforts that aim to cut down on racial and cultural disparities in patient care by informing healthcare providers of the importance of cultural and geographical awareness and its connection to patient safety.

Other recently-published articles from Briefings on Patient Safety:

Minnesota develops rules for preventing surgical errors

2009 Leadership standards tell hospital leaders to make patient safety a priority

Taking responsibility for building accountability among staff members

Work stress and its effect on a professional environment

Family-activated RRTs stress involvement

Early warning system to be surveyed in January

WalkRounds involve senior leaders with frontline staff

Infection control-related NPSG not new to field

The fundamentals of accountability

Three keys to ensuring your anticoagulant therapy program is ready

Pennsylvania association promotes standardized wristbands to prevent errors

Latest Sentinel Event Alert exposes disruptive behavior among staff members

Evolving titles in patient safety: Medication safety officer

Increased documentation added to 2009 NPSGs

California hospital team takes aim on VTE

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