Patient safety staff members at VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) knew they had a chance to increase their incident reporting, so they did something about it. And what they did didn’t require them to train hundreds of staff members in the large academic teaching hospital, but it still...
Did you notice a significant change in the Universal Protocol™ (UP) recently? No? We’re not surprised. Most of us missed the fact that The Joint Commission removed the UP FAQs from its website. We’ve been told that there is no intention to re-post the FAQs, relying instead on the UP rationale...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 21, Issue 12
Take flu shots, for instance. How do you best ensure that you reach the optimal percentage of staff? How about an attention-grabbing catchphrase? At Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, MD, a new theme is introduced every year during flu...
Many of those who work in hospitals know there is always potential for staff to make mistakes, and that those mistakes might cause patient harm. Hospitals are constantly working toward better patient care, putting systems in place to ensure that clinicians double- and triple-check their work,...
Editor’s note: The following column explores patient safety from the perspective of a newcomer to the patient safety field. Columnist Catherine Hinz, MHA, currently works at PatientSafe Solutions, Inc. Previously, she served as the patient lead at HealthEast Care System...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 21, Issue 12
If you stay around long enough in this field, the issues just cycle back. This year in the annual Joint Commission Executive Briefings, the issue of standing orders once again was raised. MM.04.04.01, EP 1 defines standing orders as pre-written medication orders and specific instructions from...
How quickly can you call up data on your nurses’ training and skill sets?
Midland (TX) Memorial Hospital recently changed its process for tracking online training and demonstrated proficiencies among its nurses. The change has resulted in a real-time information tracking program that has...
Briefings on Accreditation & Quality - Volume 21, Issue 12