Tag: pca pumps

Not Everything in a Box is Safe

By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)

The Exception to the “Everything in a Box is Safe” Rule

In today’s world of science and engineering, we have a natural tendency to assume that, if it’s been engineered and it’s “in a box”, it must be ok and safe. While this may usually be true, there are exceptions to every rule. According to the FDA (Food & Drug Administration), more than 80,000 deaths and 1.7 million injuries have been linked to medical devices in the past decade.

One exception to the “everything in a box is safe” rule may be particularly true of a medical device called patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump, which when not paired with continuous monitoring may be deadly.

Continue reading “Not Everything in a Box is Safe” →

A Nursing Error Led to My Son’s Unexpected Death

This is the story of how the unmonitored use of patient-controlled analgesia and nursing errors led to the unexpected death of a mother’s only child (and how it might have been prevented).

By Victoria Ireland

On Saturday, the 5th of November, 2011, my life fell apart when my only son Tyler left this world.

One week before that, on the morning of the 28th of October, I received a phone call that no mother ever wants to receive. I was asked to go immediately to the hospital. And when I arrived, I was told that Tyler was found unresponsive and had suffered two cardiac arrests. I never got to speak to Tyler again.

Those days will forever be etched in my memory. While my heart will always ache from the loss of Tyler, I am telling his story in the hope that it will help prevent similar tragedies and that no parent will have to endure the pain of losing their child to nursing errors and unmonitored use of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps.

Read the full story on The Doctor Weighs In here.

Patient Safety Experts Share 4 Insights About Safer Opioid Pain Management

by Sean Power

Patient safety experts recently participated in a webinar on reducing adverse drug events and harm associated with postoperative opioid pain management programs. Premier Safety Institute, an organization dedicated to coordinating safety-related activities among national organizations to help improve safety, hosted the webinar.

The panel featured four patient safety experts: Continue reading “Patient Safety Experts Share 4 Insights About Safer Opioid Pain Management” →