Health Care Industry : Patient Safety

Keeping patients safe is essential in today’s health care system, but patient safety events that violate that safety are increasing each year. It was only recently, that the focus on patient safety was reinforced by a report prepared by Institute of medicine (IOM) entitled ” To err is human, building a safer health system”(Wakefield & Iliffe,2002).This report found that approx-imately 44,000 to 98,000 deaths occur each year due to medical errors and that the majority was preventable. Deaths due to medical errors exceed deaths due to many other causes such as like HIV infections, breast cancer and even traffic accidents (Wakefield & Iliffe, 2002). After this IOM reports, President Clinton established quality interagency

Burke J.P. (2003). Infection control- a problem for patient safety. New England Journal Medicine, 348(7):651-656.

Infection control and prevention extends beyond treating the patient. It encompasses all who work and visit the facility including medical staff, administrative staff, volunteers, vendors, and

In general, there is a need for patient safety improvements. However, the good new is, that there have been some slow improvements, including a better foundation to address patient safety. A good example is the annual Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) survey designed to help healthcare organizations compare their safety record to other health care organizations. Over 600 hospitals participate each year in the volunteer survey. The results of the survey provide a baseline to track and evaluate patient safety interventions (Para. 15).

Can you imagine the misery of being admitted to the hospital, only to become infected with a separate illness? Healthcare-associated infections are defined as infections not present and without evidence of incubation at the time of admission to a healthcare setting. (CDC, 2016) These infections are acquired as an indirect result of the necessity for the patient to endure a hospital stay. While the rate of these types of infections has decreased in recent years, nearly 1.7 Million cases of healthcare-associated infections are reported annually according to the Center for Disease Control. Healthcare-associated infections are a threat to patient safety and with just under 100,000 deaths a year resulting from healthcare-associated infections, more needs to be done to protect the people we have sworn to do no harm to.

In our nursing practice, the nurse is required to hold essential skills of clinical judgment and be a patient advocate to ensure the safety and the well-being of the patient we care for. Patient safety can be compromised if nurses are not able to identify potential issues thru assessment of the patient's sign and symptoms. Patient safety can also be compromised if nurses are afraid to speak up for our patient and question what we think or feel are unsafe acts or orders.

Stephanie Ardito, after learning about three MRSA infections in her neighbor, decides to research on hospital infections. She found alarming high numbers of HAIs spread. For example, in 2009, of 1.8 million people that acquired HAIs, 100,000 of them died. HAIs also place an additional burden on hospitals. A research in 2010 estimated a $4.4 billion of additional hospital care resulting from treating HAIs. Quoting from an article titled “Staying Safe in the Hospital,” Ardito lists actions that patients can take in order to prevent HAIs. Patients should monitor their medication intake, medical test results, follow-up treatment plans; look for coordinated care from multiple caregivers; follow methods to prevent infections, specially washing hand; speak up to physician when there is a concern about HAIs; and to insist on discharging to prevent hospital readmission. This article is a great combination of many statistics from many researches, providing evidences for a growing issue of HAIs. Lastly, the author also compiles

Healthcare associated infections is one of the common causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States is healthcare associated infections (HAIs).

In their systematic review and meta-analysis about the burden of health-care-associated infection Allegranzi et al., (2011), concluded that health care associated infections (HCAIs) are the most frequent threats to patient safety worldwide. Therefore, Raveis et al., (2014) established that minimizing HCAIs is every health care worker responsibility.

Patient safety and preventing HCAIs is a key priority in NHS. (NICE, 2014). Healthcare-associated infections are very costly to the NHS, requiring more use of NHS resources, greater patient discomfort and a decrease in patient safety. A 'no tolerance ' attitude is now prevalent in relation to avoidable healthcare-associated infections (nice, 2014).

Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) which is also known as Nosocomial infection is defined as infection due to hospital care/ hospital environment and or cross infection from other patient, which the patient was not carrying before getting admitted to the hospital. Infection that the patient acquires after 48 hours of the admission in the hospital from its environment, within 3 days of hospital discharge or within 30 days of post-surgery discharge is HAIs. Patient who are more susceptible to HAIs are immunocompromised patient, patient admitted to ICU, post-surgical patient, infant and elderly population to name a few. Predominantly occurring HAIs are lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), urinary tract infection(UTI), surgical site infection

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), also known as nosocomial infections, are any type of infection a patient develops while receiving treatment for another diagnosis. HAIs are considered the most frequent type of infections in healthcare. Healthcare-associated infections do not only appear in the healthcare setting, but can appear after discharge and while the patient is receiving treatment at home. Many of the HAIs occur when a patient needs an invasive procedure (catheter, central line, and surgery.) The risk of these infections can be decreased if the healthcare providers follow strict aseptic technique when needed, washes hands before and after any contact with a patient, and by monitoring the patient for the slightest sign of an infection.

Furthermore, Smits et al. (2010) discussed strategies to prevent AEs, one of these includes quality assurance/peer review where there is continuous monitoring of data quality based on pre-specified standards and assessment of a health professional’s performance. This is essential in the evaluation and determination of the safety behaviour performed by staff and if there is any needed training or re training of skills. Also, NSW Health ED CIN Roles (2010) has outlined strategies for communication for patient and carers. They have made mnemonics A-E as a strategy for successful communication. This includes, Acknowledgement of the patient’s presence, to Be yourself, to Communicate the plan, to provide Duration and timeframe of stay in the ED and to Explore their needs. Varkey and Antonio (2010) states that most organisations tend to set aside the importance of communication in the success of change management. Effective communication allows members to participate in the formation of the change process, development and implementation and the people who are directly affected by the change can provide valuable insight. It is also important to note that

When you go to the dentist do you look to see what the dental team is wearing? This consists of gloves, masks, eye protection, and lab coats. While working in a clinical setting it important to wear the proper PPE (personal protective equipment). It is also important to know and be familiar with what the infection control precautions, rules and regulations are. It should be up to the dentist office to train you, and have a plan set up in case there was to be any type of an emergency. There are many government groups that include: OSHA and the CDC that help regulate the safety of the workplace. Using the right PPE can be essential to prevent infections, and cross contamination between you, the patient, and the community. With proper use of

The World Health Organization defines patient safety as “the reduction of risk of unnecessary harm associated with health care to an acceptable minimum”. (Emanuel, 2008) There are many things that nurses must do to assure that this is being executed while preforming care to each patient. The main concern when addressing patient safety would be the proper use of adequate staff and the newest evidence based practice. While it is imperative that each nurse and all other staff members are performing safe practice with each and every patient, it is also important that there are enough educated and qualified nurses and other staff using the most up to date proper