Patient Safety Initiatives in the Hospital Setting
Patient Safety Initiatives in the Hospital Setting
Introduction
Patient safety is described by the US Institute of Medicine as “the freedom from accidental injury due to medical care or from medical error” (Mansour, 2012). With that being said, patient safety has long been a major issue for hospitals. In the past many patients have been injured during hospital stays, some being injured severely with death being the result. With the growing trend of lawsuits, hospitals were becoming more and more vulnerable to financial liability when patients were injured on their grounds. No one wants to be responsible for the injury or death of another individual. This is why many hospitals have begun doing their own independent research as well as looking at the research from other patient safety organizations. Patient safety goals are being put into place by organizations such as The Joint Commission, as well as falls reduction campaigns being implemented by the individual hospitals. While regulatory agencies like The Joint Commission require hospitals to identify who is at risk for a fall, and gives minimum standards to go by, it is up to the individual hospital to go beyond these required interventions to reduce the risk of a fall occurring within their facilities. Some ideas to prevent falls include the implementation of a new Clinical Nurse Leader position, purposeful hourly rounding, as well as sensors for beds to ensure they are in the low position.
Topic
One of the first ways to prevent falls in patients is to identify who is at risk. According to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs, the major intrinsic, or physiology-based, risk factors for falls include; altered elimination, cognitive impairment, sensory deficits, altered or limited mobility/gait, and impaired balance (2009). Contributing to these risk factors are, for example, medications that act on the central nervous, circulatory, digestive, or urinary systems;
Introduction
Patient safety is described by the US Institute of Medicine as “the freedom from accidental injury due to medical care or from medical error” (Mansour, 2012). With that being said, patient safety has long been a major issue for hospitals. In the past many patients have been injured during hospital stays, some being injured severely with death being the result. With the growing trend of lawsuits, hospitals were becoming more and more vulnerable to financial liability when patients were injured on their grounds. No one wants to be responsible for the injury or death of another individual. This is why many hospitals have begun doing their own independent research as well as looking at the research from other patient safety organizations. Patient safety goals are being put into place by organizations such as The Joint Commission, as well as falls reduction campaigns being implemented by the individual hospitals. While regulatory agencies like The Joint Commission require hospitals to identify who is at risk for a fall, and gives minimum standards to go by, it is up to the individual hospital to go beyond these required interventions to reduce the risk of a fall occurring within their facilities. Some ideas to prevent falls include the implementation of a new Clinical Nurse Leader position, purposeful hourly rounding, as well as sensors for beds to ensure they are in the low position.
Topic
One of the first ways to prevent falls in patients is to identify who is at risk. According to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs, the major intrinsic, or physiology-based, risk factors for falls include; altered elimination, cognitive impairment, sensory deficits, altered or limited mobility/gait, and impaired balance (2009). Contributing to these risk factors are, for example, medications that act on the central nervous, circulatory, digestive, or urinary systems;
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