Editor's note: The following column is written by Columnist Catherine Hinz, MHA, who currently works at PatientSafe Solutions, Inc. Previously, she served as the patient lead at HealthEast Care System in St. Paul, MN, worked for seven years as an ED health unit coordinator, and...
A pediatric patient at Shands Healthcare at the University of Florida, Gainesville made it to the operating room (OR) for a surgery likely to require blood, but upon arrival, no blood or active blood type and screen was available.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new patient safety initiative, Partnership for Patients, in April.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new patient safety initiative, Partnership for Patients, in April.
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 22, Issue 6
In November 2010, The Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert requiring all hospitals to screen patients who do not come in with a primary mental health diagnosis and are treated in general hospitals in medical-surgical units and the emergency department (ED), in...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 22, Issue 6
Of all the challenges U.S. hospitals face, few are as unifying as hand hygiene-extremely important and, as many facilities struggle with compliance, extremely difficult to get right.
At Alamance Regional Medical Center (ARMC) in Burlington, NC, a reexamination of how hand hygiene...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 22, Issue 6
In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee released a new set of guidelines to eliminate central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI). The guidelines, titled Guidelines for the Prevention of...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 22, Issue 6
Editor's note: This feature examines Joint Commission standards in greater detail with expert advice from BOJ advisors. This month, Elizabeth Di Giacomo-Geffers, RN, MPH, CSHA, a healthcare consultant in Trabuco Canyon, CA, and former Joint Commission surveyor, discusses healthcare and the...
