As we flip our calendars to October, here’s a roundup of PPAH’s top posts and tweets from last month. Continue reading “Top 10 Patient Safety Must Reads – September 2016”
Tag: pain management
Two Precautions for Treating Opioid Naive Patients
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network defines an opioid naive patient as one who “has not chronically receiving opioid analgesics on a daily basis.”
Recent research and opinion in patient safety suggest precautions for treating the opioid naive patient be taken: Continue reading “Two Precautions for Treating Opioid Naive Patients”
Two Key TakeAways from New American Pain Society Guideline for Post-Surgical Pain Management
By the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS)
The American Pain Society (APS) recently released Clinical Practice Guideline for Post-Surgical Pain Management sets forth recommendations from an interdisciplinary expert panel. The APS commissioned the panel which received input from the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), and the guideline was approved by the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management (ASRA).
Roger Chou, MD, lead author and head of the Oregon Evidence-based Practice Center, says that the guideline targets at all clinicians involved with post-surgical pain:
The intent of the guideline is to provide evidence-based recommendations for better management of postoperative pain, and the target audience is all clinicians who manage pain resulting from surgery,
Here are two key takeaways from the 32 recommendations: Continue reading “Two Key TakeAways from New American Pain Society Guideline for Post-Surgical Pain Management”
Tools and Recommendations for Assessing the Risk of Over-Sedation and Respiratory Depression
Although there are benefits to the use of opioids for the management of pain, particularly with patients post-operatively, there are risks of over-sedation and respiratory depression, as The Joint Commission cautions in its Sentinel Event Alert “Safe use of opioids in hospitals”:
While opioid use is generally safe for most patients, opioid analgesics may be associated with adverse effects, the most serious effect being respiratory depression, which is generally preceded by sedation.
Assessing which patients are at risk of developing opioid-induced respiratory depression (OIRD) would be of benefit, as treatments could be altered or tailored to the particular patient to reduce the risk of opioid-related adverse events.
The Michigan Opioid Safety Score (MOSS) was “developed to incorporate patient risk, respiratory rate, and sedation into one bedside score that could be used to improve patient safety during inpatient opioid therapy. Scoring is based on a summation of risk data with objective bedside measures of over-sedation trumping a patient’s subjective reports of pain.” Continue reading “Tools and Recommendations for Assessing the Risk of Over-Sedation and Respiratory Depression”
Assessing Surgical Patients for Risk of Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression
If patients going into surgery were assessed for the risk of opioid-induced respiratory depression (OIRD), how many adverse events and death would be prevented?
Would such an assessment have placed in the at risk category patients like John Lachance (who underwent surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff) or Leah Coufal (who had elective surgery to repair a condition called pectus carinatum)?
Continue reading “Assessing Surgical Patients for Risk of Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression”
Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety and Health Care (October 16, 2015) – Where Would We Be Without Nurses?
Where would we be without nurses? That’s the question for this week’s must reads.
When one thinks of medical care, an image of doctors usually comes up – perhaps something like that below: Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety and Health Care (October 16, 2015) – Where Would We Be Without Nurses?”
Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety and Health Care (October 2, 2015) – Prevent Patient Falls and Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Two messages – prevent patient falls and make sure patients get a good night’s sleep.
Prevent Patient Falls
The Joint Commission issued Sentinel Event Alert 55, “Preventing falls and fall-related injuries in health care facilities”. Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety and Health Care (October 2, 2015) – Prevent Patient Falls and Get a Good Night’s Sleep”
Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety and Health Care (September 4, 2015)
What do a deceased marine and a 20-month-old baby have in common? Opioids may be needed to manage pain, but they can be deadly.
The Jason Simcakoski Opioid Safety Act has been tabled as legislation: Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety and Health Care (September 4, 2015)”
Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety and Health Care (July 31, 2015)
On our 4th Anniversary, we thought it very fitting that the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety begin our first public appeal for funds to help us continue with our mission to improve patient safety and health care (thank you for your tweets of support – @ADR_Rocks, @lzipperer, @BioAlliances, @PatientPro1st, @ehealthmgmt).
Help us ensure all patients receiving opioids are monitored. Choose your donation amount.
Help us ensure all patients receiving #opioids are monitored #ptsafety http://bit.ly/1JRzCvY Click To TweetThe anniversary of Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety on July 27 will always be greeted with mixed emotions – both celebration and sadness (a shout out to those who tweeted well wishes – @Bi3PtSafety, @GetOnTopWithUs, @cardiovasc_bio, @BioAlliances, @GeratorTrdplc). Continue reading “Weekly Must Reads in Patient Safety and Health Care (July 31, 2015)”
Increased Risk of Blood Clots with NSAIDs Use
By Patricia Iyer MSN RN LNCC
(Pat is a legal nurse consultant who provides education to healthcare providers about patient safety. She can be reached at patriciaiyer@gmail.com)
New evidence shows the patient receiving nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is at increased risk for developing a venous thromboembolism. NSAIDs are commonly prescribed for people with pain. Continue reading “Increased Risk of Blood Clots with NSAIDs Use”