Alarms! Alarms! Alarms! … and a family seeks answers to death at a VA hospital.
But, before we get to the serious news … a little humor … Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Jan 23, 2015)”
Tag: alarm fatigue
Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Jan 16, 2015)
Achieving patient safety is the watchword for this week’s Must Reads.
2015 National Patient Safety Goals
The Joint Commission’s 2015 National Patient Safety Goals were released. Although TJC says that it has “no new Goals for 2015”, it is probably a good presentation for all healthcare facilities to look at to make sure they are meeting these objectives. Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Jan 16, 2015)”
Top 16 Patient Safety Must Reads of 2014
This year, the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health and Safety introduced a weekly round-up of must-read articles in patient safety. The hand-picked list has consistently seen high engagement from our dear readers.
With that in mind, we thought we would compile a list of the Top Patient Safety Must Reads of 2014. Continue reading “Top 16 Patient Safety Must Reads of 2014”
Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Dec 12, 2014)
Too little and too many – that’s the theme of this week’s must reads. Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Dec 12, 2014)”
Better Alarm Management Improves Patient Safety and Clinician Workflow
Managing alarms on physiologic monitors, like pulse oximeters that measure blood oxygenation and capnography that assesses the adequacy of ventilation, is a critical patient safety issue. As the first comprehensive national survey of patient-controlled analgesia practices by the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety found, 90 percent of hospitals believe that reducing false alarms would increase use of patient monitoring devices. Continue reading “Better Alarm Management Improves Patient Safety and Clinician Workflow”
Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Nov 28, 2014)
Happy Thanksgiving!
Do We Need to Start a Revolution? – This is the question asked by Fred N. Pelzman, MD, who writes:
Over and over again, we were told about the sorry state of the U.S. healthcare system, how we are first in cost and last in quality, and there’s something inherently wrong with the way “we” take care of people in this country.
Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Nov 28, 2014)”
Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Nov 21, 2014)
After a brief pause to talk about the National Coalition to Promote Continuous Monitoring of Patients on Opioids, we are back to our weekly synopsis of patient safety articles and research. Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Nov 21, 2014)”
Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Oct 17, 2014)
Monitoring is the catch word for this week’s must reads. It keeps patients safe and prevents avoidable patient harm. While St Joseph/Candler Hospital just celebrated 10 years of being “event free”, each year an estimated 20,800 to 678,000 patients managing their pain with patient-controlled analgesia will experience life-threatening, opioid-induced respiratory depression. If you are scared about asking your caregivers about monitoring, just say Dr. Robert Stoelting (President, Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation) told you to. Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Oct 17, 2014)”
Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Oct 3, 2014)
Patient monitoring seems to be the flavor of the day in this week’s articles and tweets … so, remember to monitor – Keep It On!
That said, better alarm management is needed to encourage more use of continuous electronic monitoring – could a woman’s death be due to alarm fatigue, as reported by Outpatient Surgery? Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Oct 3, 2014)”
Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Sep 26, 2014)
According to the CDC, the maternal death rate in the U.S. has more than doubled since 1987. So, with that shocking statistic in mind, we felt that we had to point out articles dealing with pregnancy … and a reminder that alarm fatigue just doesn’t annoy nurses … and, lastly, one interesting video from Derriford Hospital in the UK that is improving health outcomes for its patients by doing the “wiggle”. Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety (Sep 26, 2014)”