Tag: Leah Coufal

Patient Safety Weekly Must Reads (December 17, 2016)

This week in #patientsafety, we remember Leah Coufal, an 11-year-old girl who died after experiencing respiratory depression when she received fentanyl following a successful surgery. We also share an infographic showing the U.S. opioid epidemic by the numbers. From around the web, a study finds that clinician performance is the same when the volume of alarms is turned down, an article calls on pharmacists to lead efforts against the opioid epidemic, and an investigative piece calls attention to one company’s shady sales strategy.

Stay warm and happy reading!

From PPAHS:

Opioid Deaths Are (Still) Preventable: Remembering Leah. Leah Coufal died after experiencing opioid-related respiratory depression. We remember Leah on her death anniversary.

The U.S. Opioid Epidemic In Numbers. The PPAHS conducted a survey to gauge how clinicians and the public felt about the Surgeon General’s recommendations to fight the opioid epidemic. Advance for Nurses published an infographic summarizing our early findings.

From Around the Web:

Is It Safe to Turn Down the Volume of Hospital Alarms? New Study Chimes In: ‘Yes’. We wonder whether quieter alarms would have an impact on alarm fatigue.

ASHP Midyear: Pharmacists Can Take Lead on Addressing Opioid Crisis. Our survey found that most clinicians felt doctors should take the lead on addressing the opioid crisis. Perhaps pharmacists could lead it too?

Company gave doctor ‘one of the best nights of his life’ to boost fentanyl sales. Six former executives and sales representatives of one company were arrested following an indictment with allegations of bribery and kickbacks.

Patient Safety Weekly Must Reads (November 25, 2016)

This week in #patientsafety, we shine the spotlight on respiratory therapists for all the work they do in keeping patients safe. We also look at whether bundled payments for hip and knee replacements are potentially risky when it comes to safe care. From around the web, we feature a great article highlighting stories of patients found “dead in bed”, possibly from providing too much pain medication (long-time PPAHS supporters will be familiar with most of these stories). Continue reading “Patient Safety Weekly Must Reads (November 25, 2016)” →

Detecting Harm to Prevent Adverse Events and Death

In a recent study led by David C. Stockwell, MD, MBA (Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, The George Washington University; Center for Quality and Improvement Science, Children’s National Medical Center), researchers looked at whether using a trigger tool would identify the most common causes of harm in pediatric inpatient environments. Continue reading “Detecting Harm to Prevent Adverse Events and Death” →

What Level of Service Do You Expect from a Hospital?

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a star-rating system for the patient experience at more than 3,500 U.S. hospitals.

In an editorial on the CMS rating system, Lisa Allen, Ph.D. (chief patient experience officer, Johns Hopkins Medicine, director of service excellence, The Johns Hopkins Hospital) compares hospitals and hotels: Continue reading “What Level of Service Do You Expect from a Hospital?” →