Patient Safety Monitor Journal, August 2017

Editor's Note: Click the PDF button above for a full edition of the August 2017 edition of Patient Safety Monitor Journal

Bit, kicked, and shot; Taking down workplace violence in healthcare

Can you take a punch? How do you react to being backed into a corner and screamed at? Can you keep a level head when someone spits at, grabs, slaps, or pushes you? Have you been held at knifepoint before? If a job interviewer asked you these questions, you’d probably bolt for the door unless you were applying to be an MMA fighter. Sadly, the interview in this case is for a nursing position.
More than 70% of significant WPV injuries occur in healthcare and social service settings. That number has been on the rise, and the victims are primarily healthcare workers, according to the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) Foundation.

The impact of cybersecurity on patient safety

In the TV show Mr. Robot, there’s a scene where the main character hacks his hospital’s computer system to change his drug test results from positive to negative.  Naturally, doing such a thing in real life isn’t as easy as the show makes it out to be. But it does touch upon a real problem in today’s healthcare system: Computer crimes can have real-world effects.

Once on an healthcare organization's computer or electronic health record (EHR) system, viruses give hackers dangerous amounts of access to private patient data. In the case of ransomware, they can lock down files and stall services. Other types of malware can steal or even change patient information.

Q&A: CDC town hall addresses preventing Legionella contamination

On June 2, CMS issued a new memo to surveyors on the importance of reducing cases of Legionella infections. Not long after, the CDC issued a Vital Signs report underlining the bacterium’s risk to patients. The following is an edited Q&A from the CDC Vital Signs Town Hall, “Health Care-Associated Legionnaires’ Disease: Protect Patients With Prevention and Early Recognition.” Speakers included Elizabeth Soda, MD, CDC epidemic intelligence service officer, Jeff Duchin, MD, health officer of public health at Seattle & King County, John Letson, MBA, vice president of plant operations at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center, Laura Cooley, MD, MPHTM, CDC medical epidemiologist, and Jasen Kunz, MPH, REHS, CDC environmental health officer.

Be prepared for summer patient safety hazards

Hospital EDs are extremely busy during the summer months because of accidents and injuries. While there’s no word yet on whether 2017 will break a heat record (though we hope not), you can expect it to bring a familiar brand of dangerous situations. But are you prepared for them?
 

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