This month, read important safety tips and information you need to know before you leave the hospital, and learn about the risk of workplace violence in healthcare settings and what facilities are doing to prevent it.
Please share this information with your contacts to ensure everyone has the knowledge and tools to help keep safe.
SAFETY TIPS FOR PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES
Safety Tips: Discharge Instructions
You may need more care after leaving a healthcare facility (being "discharged"). This might be changing a bandage, administering a medication, or managing a device. Each situation is different, but you will get information before you leave about what you need to do. It can feel overwhelming, but you can ask these questions to set yourself up for success.
Make sure that the person giving you instructions shows you what to do step by step and then watches you do it. This lets you learn to do it correctly with a coach before you do it on your own. Have someone with you if possible. They can take notes and help you remember what needs to be done after you go home.
From the Pages of Patient Safety
The Overlooked Threat of Hospital Falls During the Discharge Period
Patient falls while in the hospital, or at home following a recent hospitalization, are a well-known safety concern and the focus of many quality improvement studies and interventions. However, not much attention has been given to another high-risk period for inpatient falls: the day of and in the time surrounding discharge, before leaving the hospital. Although a patient is ready to be discharged, they may still be at risk of falling.
Taking a fresh perspective on patient falls, Patient Safety Authority researchers shine a light on the unique circumstances around hospital discharge to show that this time frame poses a greater threat to patient safety than ever considered before. Their data analysis suggests that inpatients may even be more at risk of serious events due to falls in this critical period than at other times during hospitalization. In this article, the authors identify discharge-related activities associated with patient falls (dressing, packing belongings, showering, and getting into a car) and fall prevention strategies, emphasizing the importance of maintaining vigilance throughout the discharge process until the patient has left the hospital.
Watch on YouTube
Reducing Workplace Violence in Community Hospitals
Workplace violence in healthcare is a growing national concern, and community hospitals are not immune. In this video, Mindy Dunkerley, MBA, BSN, RN, chief quality officer, and Michael Fiorina, DO, FAAP,chief medical officer, both of Independence Health System:
- Describe national trends and incidence rates of workplace violence in healthcare settings
- Identify patient safety risks associated with workplace violence and explain the role of prevention programs
- Examine the structure and key components of a health system’s workplace violence prevention program
- Discuss the impact of workplace violence prevention initiatives on the health system’s culture of safety
