Tag: CDC

Patient Safety Weekly Must Reads (February 11, 2017)

This week in #patientsafety, we look at the CDC’s updated guidelines on opioids. From around the web, the CDC’s Opioid Guidelines are now available as a mobile app; a man experiences opioid-induced respiratory depression and dies after routine gallbladder surgery; and a study tries to test whether patient involvement actually improves patient safety.

From PPAHS:

Opioid Safety Starts with Informed, Mutual Decisions. Giving patients a decision-making role in their pain plan–and providing them with the information they need to arrive at informed mutual decisions–is a recurring theme in the CDC’s updated guidelines on opioids.

From Around the Web:

New CDC Opioid Guideline Mobile App Now Available. The CDC has released its free Opioid Guideline app, designed to help providers apply the recommendations of the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain into clinical practice.

Man dies after routine gallbladder surgery. Gary Bougie was two months shy of his 36th birthday when he died. His family suspects he died from opioid-induced respiratory depression after going to the hospital for gallbladder surgery.

Achieving Real-Time Respiratory Depression Surveillance of Post-Surgical Patients. A focus on challenges of alarm management in caring for patients at risk for respiratory depression–includes strategies for better monitoring, referencing PPAHS’ national survey on PCA.

Opioid Safety Starts with Informed, Mutual Decisions

In March 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain. Giving patients a decision-making role in their pain plan–and providing them with the information they need to arrive at informed mutual decisions–is front and centre in the document. Continue reading “Opioid Safety Starts with Informed, Mutual Decisions” →

Prince and the Opioid Epidemic: 5 Ways for Addressing this National Crisis

Prince was not the first, nor unfortunately the last, person to die due to an opioid-related event. According to the medical examiner, Prince died from a self-administered fentanyl overdose.

While Prince may have become the poster child for the opioid epidemic and a call for restrictions on the use of opioids, it must not be forgotten that opioids play a vital role in the management of pain, such as during surgery or to relieve chronic pain. Continue reading “Prince and the Opioid Epidemic: 5 Ways for Addressing this National Crisis” →

Patient Safety Weekly Must Reads (September 2, 2016)

For this week’s weekly must-reads, we’re focusing on the topic of sepsis for National Sepsis Awareness Month. According to the Mayo Clinic:

Sepsis occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight the infection trigger inflammatory responses throughout the body. This inflammation can trigger a cascade of changes that can damage multiple organ systems, causing them to fail.

A recent Vital Signs Report issued by the CDC finds that sepsis begins outside of the hospital in nearly 80% of patients.

Sepsis CDC

Additionally, 7 in 10 patients with had recently used health care services or had chronic diseases requiring frequent medical care. The report continues with 5 key steps clinicians can take to prevent sepsis from occurring.

Continue reading “Patient Safety Weekly Must Reads (September 2, 2016)” →

Maternal Morbidity on the Rise and Likely to Climb Even Higher

By Michael Wong, JD

(This article first published in Becker’s Clinical Quality & Infection Control.)

According to the CDC[1], the maternal death rate in the U.S. has more than doubled since 1987. Continue reading “Maternal Morbidity on the Rise and Likely to Climb Even Higher” →