Ways To Move the Patient Safety Needle – Provide Improved Opioid Use Disorder Treatment to Black Americans
A recent survey published in JAMA Network Open (JAMA Netw Open 2024;7[6]:e2419094) found that:
- 61% of Americans are unaware that primary care physicians can prescribe medications for opioid use disorder (OUD), and 13% thought they could not do so.
- A significant majority—82% of those with a history of opioid misuse and 74% who have not misused opioids—expressed willingness to seek such treatment from their primary care doctors or refer loved ones to care.
However, the survey also found “a notable disparity among Black Americans, who are most likely to believe they cannot access OUD medications through primary care.”
For more on what the Physician-Patient Alliance is doing to improve the safer administration of opioids, please click here.
Ways To Move the Patient Safety Needle – Stop Violence Against Healthcare Workers
According to a recent report by the National Nurses United (NNU), over 80% of nurses have experienced at least one type of workplace violence within the past year. NNU advocates for the enactment of federal legislation to prevent workplace violence saying:
“Only a federal OSHA standard on preventing workplace violence in health care will ensure that all nurses and other health care workers are protected.”
Ways To Move the Patient Safety Needle – Incorporate Knowledge from Patients and Care Partners
In research conducted by Dr. Lianne P. Jeffs (Science of Care Institute, and Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health, Toronto, Ontario) and her colleagues, the researchers concluded that:
“Knowledge from patients and care partners about feeling unsafe and safe needs to inform efforts to mitigate harm and promote safety, well-being, and positive outcomes and experiences.”