March Cover Story: Pathways to Patient Safety

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In order to be a premiere hospital, patient safety must be a year-round focus.

While this is the case at Backus Hospital, Patient Safety Awareness Week, March 8-14, provides an ideal time to talk about how hospitals and patients can work together to create a culture of safety. Here are just some of patient safety initiatives underway at Backus.

A “safety czar”

Being able to focus exclusively on patient safety was what attracted Bonnie Thompson, APRN,MSN, to move from Washington state to work at Backus Hospital. As Director of Patient Safety, a new position, she oversees inpatient services and outpatient clinics. Ongoing staff education includes infection control and medication safety, which are addressed each day. “I like the idea of working closely with the staff to keep patients safe,” she said. Ms. Thompson also recruits and works with “patient safety champions” —staff members from different departments who teach and train on different safety topics and spread the knowledge.

A checklist that saves lives

Jetliner pilots use a preflight checklist to safeguard their passengers and cargo. Hospitals can do the same, each time an operation is performed. The Universal Protocol is a checklist system that helps keep patients safe by confirming the correct procedure is being performed on the correct patient and at the correct site. The checklist includes the entire surgical team, and the task force that put the protocol into place is made up of members from all areas within the hospital. Learn more about what this means to you by viewing a video at backushopital.org/videos

Bar code technology

Backus is a national leader in initiating the use of bar codes on identification bracelets of patients and on medications. This will help identify patients as well as make sure they are getting the right medication. JamesMorris, MIS analyst, said this also will ensure patients are receiving the right dose and the medication is taken the right time. The staff training will begin inMay, and a pilot program will begin on the cardiology floor on June 1. It should be available throughout the hospital by the end of June.Mary Bylone, RN, Assistant Vice President of Patient Care Services and Patient Safety Officer, said it also would be used for blood administration. “It identifies the patient and the medication, and signs it out in the computer.”

Fall prevention

Assessing patients for their risk of falling is part of the ongoing staff education at Backus. Daryl Hurlock, RN, Clinical Director of the orthopedic unit at Backus, attended a symposium in February about reducing falls with injury. The Connecticut Hospital Association, the Connecticut Association of Healthcare Executives, and Qualidigm cosponsored the patient safety symposium, which served as a kick-off event for a 2009 statewide collaborative on reducing falls. The symposium featured discussions of fall assessment, strategies for fall reduction and awareness of the role medication plays in patient falls.

Discharge instructions

Nurses are using a new tool to help patients better understand information about their diagnosis and medication before they are discharged from the hospital. The change comes as a direct result of inpatient surveys, which identified the quality of discharge instructions as a problem nationwide. “We felt Backus could do better,” said Colleen Sullivan, a licensed clinical social worker and Director of CareManagement at Backus. A large team from many departments looked at the issue from many angles. The answer: CareNotes, a web-based program for nurses that provides patient-centered instructions for many specific conditions. This lets patients who are being discharged home know when they can resume normal activities, how to take their medications, and provides additional educational information about symptoms to watch for.

Medication cards

Knowing what medications you’re taking is more than useful. It can be life-saving. “It is so important for us to know what medications a patient is on,”Ms. Thompson said. “We need to make sure there are no interactions and be aware of the dosage.” You can download a pocket medication card from the Backus website at backushospital.org/medcard

UpToDate.com

There is lots of medical information on the Web. But can you be certain the facts are reliable and up-to-date?With UpToDate, available on the home page at backushospital.org, you can be sure. Information on more than 7,400 topics in 13 medical categories is written, reviewed and revised by physicians who are experts in their respective fields. Information is based on medical evidence and latest studies. You can search by category, or enter a search term. And, it’s free.

Ask your doctor questions

Doctors can read your temperature and your blood pressure, but they can’t read your mind. If you have questions, you need to ask. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has a list of 10 questions for patients.

  • What is the test for?
  • How many times have you done this?
  • When will I get the results?
  • Why do I need this surgery?
  • Are there any alternatives to surgery?
  • What are the possible complications?
  • Which hospital is best for my needs?
  • How do you spell the name of that drug?
  • Are there any side effects?
  • Will this medicine interact with medicines that I'm already taking?