The tips were released as part of Healthcare Risk Management Week, which was June 18 to 22, and they align with the theme for this year’s HRM week: “Getting to Zero through the Power of One.”
Here are the tips for five safety events:
1. Right ways to eliminate wrong-site surgeries. Healthcare providers can prevent wrong-site surgeries by having surgeons sign their initials to the patient’s operative site using a permanent marking pen. The patient should confirm the site as the surgeon marks it and members of the operative team should verify the site, according to ASHRM.
Healthcare providers should ensure the patients’ operative permit/informed consent state the correct surgery. In addition, the surgeon should verify the X-rays and medical records are for the correct patient and should confirm the identity of the patient before beginning the procedure.
2. Remember to remove foreign items from surgery patients. There are several best practices for removing foreign items from surgery patients, including having written protocols for counting sponges, sharps and instruments and ensuring counts are performed and reported to surgeons as correct both at the beginning and end of the surgical procedure.
3. Steps to help stop death or injury of patient in restraints. Some best practices for restraint use include making sure restraint orders are limited to a maximum of four hours for adults, two hours for adolescents aged nine to 17 and one hour for children under nine; and prohibiting certain risky practices, such as “basket holds” and applying back pressure to a person who is prone.
4. Exchange, educate your way to eliminating medical errors. To prevent medical errors, healthcare providers should implement a patient’s informed consent policy, obtain a second opinion from another independent practitioner with similar qualifications, voluntarily report errors and conduct a root cause analysis of any error to prevent it from recurring.
5. Best practice pointers to patient suicide prevention. Three general steps for preventing suicide include being direct; listening and observing; and safeguarding the environment. Providers can be direct by asking patients directly if they are at risk of committing suicide. Providers should then ask follow-up questions and listen to the patient. To safeguard the environment, a healthcare worker should stay with the patient at all times or regularly check in on the patient, depending on the patient’s condition. In addition, at-risk patients should be put in rooms designed to minimize suicide risk.
More Articles on Patient Safety:
Increased Awareness of Radiation Risks May Reduce Physicians’ CT Orders
Proposed Bill Intended to Boost Imaging, Radiation Safety
AHA Criticizes Leapfrog Group’s Patient Safety Scorecard
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