Recommended general safety requirements for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-06-01

This report presents recommendations for a set of general safety requirements that could form the basis for the licensing of nuclear power plants by the Atomic Energy Control Board. In addition to a number of recommended deterministic requirements the report includes criteria for the acceptability of the design of such plants based upon the calculated probability and consequence (in terms of predicted radiation dose to members of the public) of potential fault sequences. The report also contains a historical review of nuclear safety principles and practices in Canada

Patient participation in patient safety still missing: Patient safety experts' views.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahlström, Merja; Partanen, Pirjo; Rathert, Cheryl; Turunen, Hannele

2016-10-01

The aim of this study was to elicit patient safety experts' views of patient participation in promoting patient safety. Data were collected between September and December in 2014 via an electronic semi-structured questionnaire and interviews with Finnish patient safety experts (n = 21), then analysed using inductive content analysis. Patient safety experts regarded patients as having a crucial role in promoting patient safety. They generally deemed the level of patient safety as 'acceptable' in their organizations, but reported that patient participation in their own safety varied, and did not always meet national standards. Management of patient safety incidents differed between organizations. Experts also suggested that patient safety training should be increased in both basic and continuing education programmes for healthcare professionals. Patient participation in patient safety is still lacking in clinical practice and systematic actions are needed to create a safety culture in which patients are seen as equal partners in the promotion of high-quality and safe care. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Recommendations for the safety preparation of sterile medicines in medical wards

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana M.ª Martín de Rosales Cabrera

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: To develop a recommendations guide about the preparation of sterile medicines in medical wards, and to figure out the current situation of different Spanish hospitals, regarding the preparation of sterile medicines outside the pharmacy. Methods: The autors reviewed the available international guidelines in order to summarize the main quality recommendations. To know about the current situation in Spanish hospitals, a 30 questions survey was designed and spread to 500 different hospitals. Answers were analysed with Survey monkey® platform in the period February-July 2012. Results: Based on the literature review, the authors agreed a recommendations list for the safe preparation of sterile medicines in medical wards, which was structured in 8 sections. Regarding the survey results, 8.4% of the hospitals answered, showing a great variability among centres in the quality requirements for sterile compounding outside the pharmacy. It should be pointed out the lack of assigned areas for drug preparation in wards, the lack of protocols to discern which kind of medicines can be compounded in wards as well as the poor recommendations about garment and aseptic technique. Conclusions: The authors confirm the absence of qualified practice standards to be applied in the preparation of sterile medicines in medical wards, as well as the great variability of diary practice. The implementation of quality and safety recommendations in the preparation of sterile medicines in medical wards may contribute to improve patient safety.

The complexity of patient safety reporting systems in UK dentistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Renton, T; Master, S

2016-10-21

Since the 'Francis Report', UK regulation focusing on patient safety has significantly changed. Healthcare workers are increasingly involved in NHS England patient safety initiatives aimed at improving reporting and learning from patient safety incidents (PSIs). Unfortunately, dentistry remains 'isolated' from these main events and continues to have a poor record for reporting and learning from PSIs and other events, thus limiting improvement of patient safety in dentistry. The reasons for this situation are complex.This paper provides a review of the complexities of the existing systems and procedures in relation to patient safety in dentistry. It highlights the conflicting advice which is available and which further complicates an overly burdensome process. Recommendations are made to address these problems with systems and procedures supporting patient safety development in dentistry.

Implementation plan for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 90-7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borsheim, G.L.; Cash, R.J.; Dukelow, G.T.

1992-12-01

This document revises the original plan submitted in March 1991 for implementing the recommendations made by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board in their Recommendation 90-7 to the US Department of Energy. Recommendation 90-7 addresses safety issues of concern for 24 single-shell, high-level radioactive waste tanks containing ferrocyanide compounds at the Hanford Site. The waste in these tanks is a potential safety concern because, under certain conditions involving elevated temperatures and low concentrations of nonparticipating diluents, ferrocyanide compounds in the presence of oxidizing materials can undergo a runaway (propagating) chemical reaction. This document describes those activities underway by the Hanford Site contractor responsible for waste tank safety that address each of the six parts of Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 90-7. This document also identifies the progress made on these activities since the beginning of the ferrocyanide safety program in September 1990. Revised schedules for planned activities are also included

[The road to patient safety: facts and desire].

Science.gov (United States)

Aibar-Remón, Carlos; Barrasa-Villar, Ignacio; Moliner-Lahoz, Javier; Gutiérrez-Cía, Isabel; Aibar-Villán, Laura; Obón-Azuara, Blanca; Mareca-Doñate, Rosa; Ríos-Faure, David

2018-01-27

To evaluate differences between the need and degree of implementation of safe practices recommended for patient safety and to check the usefulness of traffic sign iconicity to promote their implementation. The study was developed in two stages: 1) review of safe practices recommended by different organizations and 2) a survey to assess the perceptions for the need and implementation of them and the usefulness of signs to improve their implementation. The sample consisted of professionals from Spain and Latin America working in healthcare settings and in the academic field related to patient safety. 365 questionnaires were collected. All safe practices included were considered necessary (mean and lower limit of confidence interval over 3 out of 5 points). However, in six of the patient safety practices evaluated the implementation was considered insufficient: illegible handwriting, medication reconciliation, standardization of communication systems, early warning systems, procedures performed or equipment used only by trained people, and compliance with patient preferences at the end of life. Improve compliance of with hand hygiene and barrier precautions to prevent infections, ensure the correct identification of patients and the use of checklists are the four practices in which more than 75% of respondents found a high degree of consensus on the usefulness of traffic sings to broaden their use. The differences between perceived need and actual implementation in some safe practices indicate areas for improvement in patient safety. With this aim, the common language and the iconicity of traffic signs could constitute a simple instrument to improve compliance with safe practices for patient safety. Copyright © 2018 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Improving patient safety in radiation oncology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendee, William R.; Herman, Michael G.

2011-01-01

Beginning in the 1990s, and emphasized in 2000 with the release of an Institute of Medicine report, healthcare providers and institutions have dedicated time and resources to reducing errors that impact the safety and well-being of patients. But in January 2010 the first of a series of articles appeared in the New York Times that described errors in radiation oncology that grievously impacted patients. In response, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and the American Society of Radiation Oncology sponsored a working meeting entitled ''Safety in Radiation Therapy: A Call to Action''. The meeting attracted 400 attendees, including medical physicists, radiation oncologists, medical dosimetrists, radiation therapists, hospital administrators, regulators, and representatives of equipment manufacturers. The meeting was cohosted by 14 organizations in the United States and Canada. The meeting yielded 20 recommendations that provide a pathway to reducing errors and improving patient safety in radiation therapy facilities everywhere.

Patient safety: Safety culture and patient safety ethics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Marlene Dyrløv

2006-01-01

,demonstrating significant, consistent and sometimes large differences in terms of safety culture factors across the units participating in the survey. Paper 5 is the results of a study of the relation between safety culture, occupational health andpatient safety using a safety culture questionnaire survey......Patient safety - the prevention of medical error and adverse events - and the initiative of developing safety cultures to assure patients from harm have become one of the central concerns in quality improvement in healthcare both nationally andinternationally. This subject raises numerous...... challenging issues of systemic, organisational, cultural and ethical relevance, which this dissertation seeks to address through the application of different disciplinary approaches. The main focus of researchis safety culture; through empirical and theoretical studies to comprehend the phenomenon, address...

[Recommendations for inspections of the French nuclear safety authority].

Science.gov (United States)

Rousse, C; Chauvet, B

2015-10-01

The French nuclear safety authority is responsible for the control of radiation protection in radiotherapy since 2002. Controls are based on the public health and the labour codes and on the procedures defined by the controlled health care facility for its quality and safety management system according to ASN decision No. 2008-DC-0103. Inspectors verify the adequacy of the quality and safety management procedures and their implementation, and select process steps on the basis of feedback from events notified to ASN. Topics of the inspection are communicated to the facility at the launch of a campaign, which enables them to anticipate the inspectors' expectations. In cases where they are not physicians, inspectors are not allowed to access information covered by medical confidentiality. The consulted documents must therefore be expunged of any patient-identifying information. Exchanges before the inspection are intended to facilitate the provision of documents that may be consulted. Finally, exchange slots between inspectors and the local professionals must be organized. Based on improvements achieved by the health care centres and on recommendations from a joint working group of radiotherapy professionals and the nuclear safety authority, changes will be made in the control procedure that will be implemented when developing the inspection program for 2016-2019. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier SAS.

Safety recommendations in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikolaou, K.I.; Plataniotis, T.N; Syrgiamiotis, G.V.; Dousi, M.; Panou, T.; Georgiadis, K.; Bougias, C.

2008-01-01

transformers and high voltage lines. In MR, there is concern with nerves, blood vessels and muscles that act as conductors in the body. Although noise levels on most commercial systems, is considered to be within recommended safety guidelines, it can cause some reversible and irreversible effects. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limit for RF exposure is measured as either an increase in body temperature or as the specific absorption rate (SAR). The utilization of contrast material (Gadolinium) must be avoided when examining a pregnant patient. Also there are situations of Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) after the use of Gadolinium. Quenching is the process whereby there is a sudden loss of absolute zero of temperature in the magnet coils, this results in helium escaping from the cryogen bath extremely rapidly. Patient and personnel screening is the most effective way in which to avoid potential safety hazards to patients. It is recommended that all patients are monitored 'verbally and visually'. (author)

[Prevention of medical device-related adverse events in hospitals: Specifying the recommendations of the German Coalition for Patient Safety (APS) for users and operators of anaesthesia equipment].

Science.gov (United States)

Bohnet-Joschko, Sabine; Zippel, Claus; Siebert, Hartmut

2015-01-01

The use and organisation of medical technology has an important role to play for patient and user safety in anaesthesia. Specification of the recommendations of the German Coalition for Patient Safety (APS) for users and operators of anaesthesia equipment, explore opportunities and challenges for the safe use and organisation of anaesthesia devices. We conducted a literature search in Medline/PubMed for studies dealing with the APS recommendations for the prevention of medical device-related risks in the context of anaesthesia. In addition, we performed an internet search for reports and recommendations focusing on the use and organisation of medical devices in anaesthesia. Identified studies were grouped and assigned to the recommendations. The division into users and operators was maintained. Instruction and training in anaesthesia machines is sometimes of minor importance. Failure to perform functional testing seems to be a common cause of critical incidents in anaesthesia. There is a potential for reporting to the federal authority. Starting points for the safe operation of anaesthetic devices can be identified, in particular, at the interface of staff, organisation, and (anaesthesia) technology. The APS recommendations provide valuable information on promoting the safe use of medical devices and organisation in anaesthesia. The focus will be on risks relating to the application as well as on principles and materials for the safe operation of anaesthesia equipment. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Recommendations from the Health and Safety at Work Sub-Committee

Science.gov (United States)

Education in Science, 1976

1976-01-01

Provides additional recommendations as the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974 applies to the storage of flammable liquids, provision of safety equipment, responsibility for technicians and faulty apparatus. (GS)

New ICRP recommendations and radiation safety of an NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janzekovic, H.

2007-01-01

In March 2007 the fundamental radiation protection recommendations used world-widely in nuclear facilities were approved by the ICRP. Implementation of radiation safety standards in an NPP is a challenging issue related to all NPP phases from planning a site and its design to its decommissioning also because if neglected it could be very difficult if not impossible to implement improvement of radiation safety later during operation or decommissioning without a substantial cost. The standards are changing with a period of 15 years which is small regarding a prolonged lifetime of many NPPs and also foreseen lifetime of new NPPs, i.e. 60 years. The new recommendations are actually an upgrading of the ICRP 60. Among other changes new sets of wR and wT are given, as well as an update of around 50 different values related to doses. Two new concepts are also tackled i.e. terrorist attacks and protection of the environment. The influence of the new recommendations on the radiation safety of NPPs can be analysed by a selection of four renewed or new concepts: types of exposure situation, dose constraints, source-related approach and safety and security. Their implementation could lead to upgrading the radiation safety of future or existing NPPs as well as of decommissioning processes. Some of the concepts were already extensively and successfully used by designers of modifications or of new NPPs, as well as by operators. (author)

Nuclear health and safety. Status of GAO's environmental, safety, and health recommendations to DOE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

England-Joseph, Judy; Bannerman, Carl J.; Fenzel, William F.; Brack, David L.; Harter, Frederick A.

1990-04-01

DOE's operations are carried out at many contractor-operated sites around the country, including major sites within the nuclear weapons complex that are involved in the production of nuclear material for weapons and naval fuel. At these sites DOE contractors routinely use and generate large quantities of a wide range of hazardous and radioactive materials. Because these materials require special handling by workers. Also pursuant to Mar. 15, 1989, request, we provided you a report entitled Nuclear Health and Safety: Need for Improved Responsiveness to Problems at DOE Sites (GAO/RCED-90-101, Mar. 28, 1990). to prevent exposure to themselves or releases into the environment, DOE's weapons complex, considered in its entirety, is among the potentially more dangerous industrial operations in the world. Over the last decade, at the request of the Congress, we have carried out a series of assessments and evaluations of various aspects of the complex. In over 60 reports and testimonies published since 1990, we have called attention to the mounting problems facing DOE's nuclear weapons complex. This body of work includes (1) identifying serious, costly, and widespread environmental, safety, and health problems at DOE facilities, (2) calling for outside independent oversight of DOE's nuclear operations, and (3) making recommendations to DOE to strengthen its oversight, providing more detailed information and plans to the Congress, and improving its management and accounting practices. In total, our reports and testimonies have included 54 recommendations to DOE, in addition to recommendations to the Congress, concerning environmental, safety, and health matters at the complex. We consider 23 of the 54 recommendations to be still open. The open recommendations call for improvements such as tighter program controls and clearer standards and policies related to environmental, safety, and health matters

The role of the ward manager in promoting patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinnock, David

In this article the role of the ward manager in promoting patient safety is explored. The background to the development of the patient safety agenda is briefly discussed and the relationship between quality and safety is illustrated. The pivotal importance of the role of the ward manager in delivering services to patients is underlined and literature on patient safety is examined to identify what a ward manager can do to make care safer. Possible actions of the ward manager to improve safety discussed in the literature are structured around the Leadership Framework. This framework identifies seven domains for the leadership of service delivery. Ward managers use their personal qualities, and network and work within teams, while managing performance and facilitating innovation, change and measurement for improvement. The challenge of promoting patient safety for ward managers is briefly explored and recommendations for further research are made.

Uncertain added value of Global Trigger Tool for monitoring of patient safety in cancer care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lipczak, Henriette; Neckelmann, Kirsten; Steding-Jessen, Marianne

2011-01-01

Monitoring patient safety is a challenging task. The lack of a golden standard has contributed to the recommendation and introduction of several methods. In 2000 the Danish Lung Cancer Registry (DLCR) was established to monitor the clinical management of lung cancer. In 2008 the Global Trigger Tool...... (GTT) was recommended in Denmark as a tool for the monitoring of patient safety. Ideally, the recommendation of a new tool should be preceded by a critical assessment of its added value....

Therapeutic risk management of the suicidal patient: safety planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Matarazzo, Bridget B; Homaifar, Beeta Y; Wortzel, Hal S

2014-05-01

This column is the fourth in a series describing a model for therapeutic risk management of the suicidal patient. Previous columns presented an overview of the therapeutic risk management model, provided recommendations for how to augment risk assessment using structured assessments, and discussed the importance of risk stratification in terms of both severity and temporality. This final column in the series discusses the safety planning intervention as a critical component of therapeutic risk management of suicide risk. We first present concerns related to the relatively common practice of using no-suicide contracts to manage risk. We then present the safety planning intervention as an alternative approach and provide recommendations for how to use this innovative strategy to therapeutically mitigate risk in the suicidal patient.

76 FR 42686 - DOE Response to Recommendation 2011-1 of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-19

... examples of a failed safety culture.'' The Department disagrees with this categorization and believes the... Safety Board, Safety Culture at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant AGENCY: Department of Energy... Recommendation 2011-1, concerning Safety Culture at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, to the...

Patient safety manifesto: a professional imperative for prelicensure nursing education.

Science.gov (United States)

Debourgh, Gregory A; Prion, Susan K

2012-01-01

Nurses in practice and students in training often fear hurting a patient or doing something wrong. Experienced nurses have developed assessment skills and clinical intuition to recognize and intervene to prevent patient risk and harm. Beginning nursing students have not yet had the opportunity to develop an awareness of patient risk, safety concerns, or a clear sense of their accountability in the nurse role as the primary advocate for patient safety. In this Safety Manifesto, the authors call for educators to critically review their prelicensure curricula for inclusion of teaching and learning activities that are focused on patient safety and offer recommendations for curricular changes with an emphasis on integration of instructional strategies that develop students' skills for clinical reasoning and judgment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recommendations relating to safety-critical real-time software in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

The Advisory Committee on Nuclear Safety (ACNS) has reviewed safety issues associated with the software for the digital computers in the safety shutdown systems for the Darlington NGS. From this review the ACNS has developed four recommendations for safety-critical real-time software in nuclear power plants. These recommendations cover: the completion of the present efforts to develop an overall standard and sub-tier standards for safety-critical real-time software; the preparation of schedules and lists of responsibilities for this development; the concentration of AECB efforts on ensuring the scrutability of safety-critical real-time software; and, the collection of data on reliability and causes of failure (error) of safety-critical real-time software systems and on the probability and causes of common-mode failures (errors). (9 refs.)

Evaluation and Customization of WHO Safety Checklist for Patient Safety in Otorhinolaryngology.

Science.gov (United States)

Dabholkar, Yogesh; Velankar, Haritosh; Suryanarayan, Sneha; Dabholkar, Twinkle Y; Saberwal, Akanksha A; Verma, Bhavika

2018-03-01

The WHO has designed a safe surgery checklist to enhance communication and awareness of patient safety during surgery and to minimise complications. WHO recommends that the check-list be evaluated and customised by end users as a tool to promote safe surgery. The aim of present study was to evaluate the impact of WHO safety checklist on patient safety awareness in otorhinolaryngology and to customise it for the speciality. A prospective structured questionnaire based study was done in ENT operating room for duration of 1 month each for cases, before and after implementation of safe surgery checklist. The feedback from respondents (surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists) was used to arrive at a customised checklist for otolaryngology as per WHO guidelines. The checklist significantly improved team member's awareness of patient's identity (from 17 to 86%) and each other's identity and roles (from 46 to 94%) and improved team communication (from 73 to 92%) in operation theatre. There was a significant improvement in preoperative check of equipment and critical events were discussed more frequently. The checklist could be effectively customised to suit otolaryngology needs as per WHO guidelines. The modified checklist needs to be validated by otolaryngology associations. We conclude from our study that the WHO Surgical safety check-list has a favourable impact on patient safety awareness, team-work and communication of operating team and can be customised for otolaryngology setting.

Compliance With Recommended Food Safety Practices in Television Cooking Shows.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Nancy L; Olson, Rita Brennan

Examine compliance with recommended food safety practices in television cooking shows. Using a tool based on the Massachusetts Food Establishment Inspection Report, raters examined 39 episodes from 10 television cooking shows. Chefs demonstrated conformance with good retail practices for proper use and storage of utensils in 78% of episodes; preventing contamination (62%), and fingernail care (82%). However, 50% to 88% of episodes were found to be out of compliance with other personal hygiene practices, proper use of gloves and barriers (85% to 100%), and maintaining proper time and temperature controls (93%). Over 90% failed to conform to recommendations regarding preventing contamination through wiping cloths and washing produce. In only 13% of episodes were food safety practices mentioned. There appears to be little attention to food safety during most cooking shows. Celebrity and competing chefs have the opportunity to model and teach good food safety practices for millions of viewers. Copyright © 2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recommendations of the Reactor Safety Commission, 1971--1974

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The Reactor Safety Commission (RSC) of the German Federal Republic was created in 1958 by the then Federal Minister for Atomic Energy and Hydroeconomy. Its task included the advising of the Federal Minister responsible for protection of the population from possible dangers occurring during peaceful utilization of nuclear energy and in all matters of the safety of nuclear oriented installations. The RSC consists of independent experts from differing specialty areas. The results of their consultations are passed on in recommendations to the appropriate Federal Minister. Since the reappointment and reorganization of the RSC in the year 1971 by the then Federal Minister for Education and Science, the recommendations have been published in the ''Federal Gazette.'' The report presented is divided into two parts with a three part appendix. All recommendations of the RSC made since the reorganization (68th Meeting on 3 November 1971) until expiration of the last appointment, (96th Meeting on 25 July 1974) are compiled in the first section. The second part contains all announcements of the RSC which have appeared in the ''Federal Gazette.'' These concern training, agenda, as well as current members. Appendix A includes the ''Guidelines for Pressurized Water Reactors'' approved in the 93rd Meeting on 24 April 1974. Two key word listings follow in Sections B and C of the Appendix. The report was prepared in behalf of the Federal Minister of the Interior through the Office of the RSC assigned to the Institute for Reactor Safety of the Technical Inspection Association (IRS). The report is continued at regular intervals following each meeting period

Recommendations and comments on the report of the Ontario Nuclear Safety Review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-12-01

The report of the Ontario Nuclear Safety Review (ONSR) prepared by Dr. F. Kenneth Hare in March 1988, is reviewed by the Advisory Committee on Nuclear Safety (ACNS) to assess for the Atomic Energy Control Board the relevance and importance of the ONSR recommendations and comments. The ACNS conclusions from this study are embodied in nineteen recommendations, as well as several suggestions and some specific comments

Electronic health records and patient safety: co-occurrence of early EHR implementation with patient safety practices in primary care settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanner, C; Gans, D; White, J; Nath, R; Pohl, J

2015-01-01

The role of electronic health records (EHR) in enhancing patient safety, while substantiated in many studies, is still debated. This paper examines early EHR adopters in primary care to understand the extent to which EHR implementation is associated with the workflows, policies and practices that promote patient safety, as compared to practices with paper records. Early adoption is defined as those who were using EHR prior to implementation of the Meaningful Use program. We utilized the Physician Practice Patient Safety Assessment (PPPSA) to compare primary care practices with fully implemented EHR to those utilizing paper records. The PPPSA measures the extent of adoption of patient safety practices in the domains: medication management, handoffs and transition, personnel qualifications and competencies, practice management and culture, and patient communication. Data from 209 primary care practices responding between 2006-2010 were included in the analysis: 117 practices used paper medical records and 92 used an EHR. Results showed that, within all domains, EHR settings showed significantly higher rates of having workflows, policies and practices that promote patient safety than paper record settings. While these results were expected in the area of medication management, EHR use was also associated with adoption of patient safety practices in areas in which the researchers had no a priori expectations of association. Sociotechnical models of EHR use point to complex interactions between technology and other aspects of the environment related to human resources, workflow, policy, culture, among others. This study identifies that among primary care practices in the national PPPSA database, having an EHR was strongly empirically associated with the workflow, policy, communication and cultural practices recommended for safe patient care in ambulatory settings.

Does Employee Safety Matter for Patients Too? Employee Safety Climate and Patient Safety Culture in Health Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohr, David C; Eaton, Jennifer Lipkowitz; McPhaul, Kathleen M; Hodgson, Michael J

2015-04-22

We examined relationships between employee safety climate and patient safety culture. Because employee safety may be a precondition for the development of patient safety, we hypothesized that employee safety culture would be strongly and positively related to patient safety culture. An employee safety climate survey was administered in 2010 and assessed employees' views and experiences of safety for employees. The patient safety survey administered in 2011 assessed the safety culture for patients. We performed Pearson correlations and multiple regression analysis to examine the relationships between a composite measure of employee safety with subdimensions of patient safety culture. The regression models controlled for size, geographic characteristics, and teaching affiliation. Analyses were conducted at the group level using data from 132 medical centers. Higher employee safety climate composite scores were positively associated with all 9 patient safety culture measures examined. Standardized multivariate regression coefficients ranged from 0.44 to 0.64. Medical facilities where staff have more positive perceptions of health care workplace safety climate tended to have more positive assessments of patient safety culture. This suggests that patient safety culture and employee safety climate could be mutually reinforcing, such that investments and improvements in one domain positively impacts the other. Further research is needed to better understand the nexus between health care employee and patient safety to generalize and act upon findings.

Discussion on the Safety Factors of Slopes Recommended for Small Dams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Vrubel

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The design and assessment of the slope stability of small embankment dams is usually not carried out using slope stability calculations but rather by the comparison of proposed or existing dam slopes with those recommended by technical standards or guidelines. Practical experience shows that in many cases the slopes of small dams are steeper than those recommended. However, most of such steeper slopes at existing dams do not exhibit any visible signs of instability, defects or sliding. For the dam owner and also for dam stability engineers, the safety of the slope, expressed e.g. via a factor of safety, is crucial. The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety margin provided by recommended slopes. The factor of safety was evaluated for several dam shape and layout variants via the shear strength reduction method using PLAXIS software. The study covers various dam geometries, dam core and shoulder positions and parameter values of utilised soils. Three load cases were considered: one with a steady state seepage condition and two with different reservoir water level drawdown velocities – standard and critical. As numerous older small dams lack a drainage system, variants with and without a toe drain were assessed. Calculated factors of safety were compared with required values specified by national standards and guidelines.

Recommended research program for improving seismic safety of light-water nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-04-01

Recommendations are presented for research areas concerned with seismic safety. These recommendations are based on an analysis of the answers to a questionnaire which was sent to over 80 persons working in the area of seismic safety of nuclear power plants. In addition to the answers of the 55 questionnaires which were received, the recommendations are based on ideas expressed at a meeting of an ad hoc group of professionals formed by Sandia, review of literature, current research programs, and engineering judgement

Development and implementation of a hospital-based patient safety program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frush, Karen S.; Alton, Michael; Frush, Donald P.

2006-01-01

Evidence from numerous studies indicates that large numbers of patients are harmed by medical errors while receiving health-care services in the United States today. The 1999 Institute of Medicine report on medical errors recommended that hospitals and health-care agencies ''establish safety programs to act as a catalyst for the development of a culture of safety'' [1]. In this article, we describe one approach to successful implementation of a hospital-based patient safety program. Although our experience at Duke University Health System will be used as an example, the needs, principles, and solutions can apply to a variety of other health-care practices. Key components include the development of safety teams, provision of tools that teams can use to support an environment of safety, and ongoing program modification to meet patient and staff needs and respond to changing priorities. By moving patient safety to the forefront of all that we do as health-care providers, we can continue to improve our delivery of health care to children and adults alike. This improvement is fostered when we enhance the culture of safety, develop a constant awareness of the possibility of human and system errors in the delivery of care, and establish additional safeguards to intercept medical errors in order to prevent harm to patients. (orig.)

Radiation therapy in patients with cardiac pacemakers or implantable cardioverter defibrillators. Interdisciplinary safety recommendations; Strahlentherapie bei Patienten mit Herzschrittmachern oder implantierbaren Kardioverter-Defibrillatoren. Interdisziplinaere Sicherheitsempfehlungen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dorenkamp, M.; Haverkmap, W.; Roser, M. [Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow-Klinikum (Germany). Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Kardiologie; Stromberger, C.; Wust, P. [Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin (Germany). Klinik fuer Radioonkologie und Strahlentherapie; Heymann, C. von [Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow-Klinikum (Germany). Klinik fuer Anaesthesiologie mit Schwerpunkt operative Intensivmedizin

2013-01-15

Background: With increasing numbers of implanted pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) and a rising incidence of malignant tumors, there is a growing probability of radiation-mediated device dysfunction. The only guidelines for the management of patients with cardiac pacemakers in the case of radiation therapy were published in 1994 and have not been updated since then. Based on the current evidence and modern device technology, the present paper aims to develop contemporary and interdisciplinary safety recommendations for the minimization of patient risk. Methods and results: A systematic literature research was carried out including the most relevant medical electronic databases. The search yielded 147 articles published between 1994 and 2012 of which 45 met the selection criteria and of these studies 34 presented primary data (9 in vitro and 25 in vivo studies). The impact of ionizing radiation varied significantly between implanted devices and ranged from no functional changes to complete loss of function. Important device dysfunctions included changes in sensing capability, altered pacing pulses or rate, changed or disabled tachyarrhythmia ICD therapies, early battery depletion and loss of telemetry. Modern pacemakers and ICDs are more sensitive to radiation than older models. Potentially life-threatening complications were observed after exposure of the pulse generator to comparatively low radiation doses (0.11 Gy). Conclusions: Practical recommendations for patient management and safety are presented that can be readily adopted by any institution carrying out radiation therapy. (orig.)

Patient Safety Culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Solvejg

of health care professional’s behaviour, habits, norms, values, and basic assumptions related to patient care; it is the way things are done. The patient safety culture guides the motivation, commitment to and know-how of the safety management, and how all members of a work place interact. This thesis......Patient safety is highly prioritised in the Danish health care system, never the less, patients are still exposed to risk and harmed every day. Implementation of a patient safety culture has been suggested an effective mean to protect patients against adverse events. Working strategically...

76 FR 71345 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From Child Health Patient Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-17

... Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From Child Health Patient Safety Organization, Inc. AGENCY: Agency for... notification of voluntary relinquishment from Child Health Patient Safety Organization, Inc. of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety...

76 FR 79192 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From HSMS Patient Safety Organization

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-21

... Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From HSMS Patient Safety Organization AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare... voluntary relinquishment from the HSMS Patient Safety Organization of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act), Public Law 109...

Aviation and healthcare: a comparative review with implications for patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Kapur, Narinder; Parand, Anam; Soukup, Tayana; Reader, Tom; Sevdalis, Nick

2016-01-01

Safety in aviation has often been compared with safety in healthcare. Following a recent article in this journal, the UK government set up an Independent Patient Safety Investigation Service, to emulate a similar well-established body in aviation. On the basis of a detailed review of relevant publications that examine patient safety in the context of aviation practice, we have drawn up a table of comparative features and a conceptual framework for patient safety. Convergence and divergence of safety-related behaviours across aviation and healthcare were derived and documented. Key safety-related domains that emerged included Checklists, Training, Crew Resource Management, Sterile Cockpit, Investigation and Reporting of Incidents and Organisational Culture. We conclude that whilst healthcare has much to learn from aviation in certain key domains, the transfer of lessons from aviation to healthcare needs to be nuanced, with the specific characteristics and needs of healthcare borne in mind. On the basis of this review, it is recommended that healthcare should emulate aviation in its resourcing of staff who specialise in human factors and related psychological aspects of patient safety and staff wellbeing. Professional and post-qualification staff training could specifically include Cognitive Bias Avoidance Training, as this appears to play a key part in many errors relating to patient safety and staff wellbeing.

Fourth Annual Nursing Leadership Congress: "Driving Patient Safety Through Transformation" Conference proceedings.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinakiewicz, Diane; Smetzer, Judy; Thompson, Pamela; Navarra, Mary Beth; Lambert, Monique

2009-06-01

In September 2008, nurse executives from around the country met in Scottsdale, Ariz, to develop practical tools and recommendations for "Driving Patient Safety Through Transformation," the theme of the fourth annual Nursing Leadership Congress. The Congress was made possible through an educational grant from McKesson and Intel in collaboration with sponsorship from the American Organization of Nurse Executives, Institute for Safe Medication Practices and National Patient Safety Foundation. This paper summarizes the Congress plenary sessions and roundtable discussions. Plenaries included the following: *Transformational Leadership: The Role of Leaders in Managing Complex Problems *Using the Baldrige Business Model as the Infrastructure for Creating a Culture of Patient Safety *Prospects for Structural Reform in Health Care Roundtables included the following: *Joy and Meaning in Work *Managing Chronic Care Across the Continuum *The Future of Acute Care Delivery in Light of Changing Reimbursement* Leveraging Transparency to Drive Patient Safety *Collaborative Partnerships for Driving a Patient Safety Agenda *Innovative Solutions for Patient Safety *Implementing the Fundamentals of the Toyota Production Model forHealthcare

The US Food and Drug Administration’s drug safety recommendations and long-acting beta2-agonist dispensing pattern changes in adult asthma patients: 2003–2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhou EH

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Esther H Zhou,1 Sally Seymour,2 Margie R Goulding,1 Elizabeth M Kang,1 Jacqueline M Major,1 Solomon Iyasu1 1Division of Epidemiology, Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology, 2Office of New Drugs, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA Background: Emerging safety issues associated with long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA have led to multiple regulatory activities by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA since 2003, including Drug Safety Communications (DSCs in 2010. These DSCs had three specific recommendations for the safe use of LABA products in adult asthma treatment. Methods: We examined the initiation of LABA-containing products for adult asthma treatment using an intermittent time series approach in a claims database from 2003 to 2012. We assessed the alignment of dispensing patterns with the following 2010 FDA recommendations: 1 contraindicated use of single-ingredient (SI-LABA without an asthma controller medication (ACM; 2 a LABA should only be used when asthma is not adequately controlled on inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs or ACM; and 3 step-down asthma therapy (e.g., discontinue LABA when asthma control is achieved. Results: There were 477,922 adults (18–64 years old dispensed a new LABA during 2003–2012. Among LABA initiators, patients who initiated an SI-LABA and who did “not” have an ACM dispensed on the same date decreased from >9% in 2003 (the initial labeling change to <2% post 2010 DSCs (p-value <0.0001 in the segmented regression model. The proportion of asthma patients dispensed an ICS in 6 months prior to initiating LABA treatment did not increase. The proportion of patients with longer than 4 months of continuous treatment did not decrease over the study period. Conclusion: Although the decrease in SI-LABA initiation is consistent with FDA’s recommendations, low ICS dispensing before initiating a LABA and LABA continuation practices require further efforts

Patients Provide Recommendations for Improving Patient Satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Angelo D; Hamilton, Jill B; Krusel, Jessica L; Moore, LeeAntoinette G; Pierre-Louis, Bosny J

2016-04-01

National Committee for Quality Assurance recommends patient-centered medical homes incorporate input from patient populations; however, many health care organizations do not. This qualitative study used two open-ended questions from 148 active duty Army Soldiers and their family members to illicit recommendations for primary care providers and clinic leadership that would improve their health care experiences. Content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyze responses. Participant responses were related to four major themes: Access to Care, Interpersonal Interaction, Satisfaction of Care, and Quality of Care. Participants were overall satisfied with their care; however, spending less time waiting for appointments and to see the provider or specialist were the most frequently requested improvements related to Access to Care. For Interpersonal Interaction, 82% of the responses recommended that providers be more attentive listeners, courteous, patient, caring, and respectful. Decreasing wait times and improving interpersonal skills would improve health care experiences and patient satisfaction. Reprint & Copyright © 2016 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Safety of sports participation in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators: a survey of heart rhythm society members.

Science.gov (United States)

Lampert, Rachel; Cannom, David; Olshansky, Brian

2006-01-01

Safety of Sports for ICD Patients. The safety of sports participation for patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) is unknown, and recommendations among physicians may vary widely. The purposes of this study were to determine current practice among patients with ICDs and their physicians regarding sports participation, and to determine how many physicians have cared for patients who have sustained adverse events during sports participation. A survey was mailed to all 1,687 U.S. physician members of the Heart Rhythm Society. Among 614 respondent physicians, recommendations varied widely. Only 10% recommended avoidance of all sports more vigorous than golf. Seventy-six percent recommended avoidance of contact, and 45% recommend avoidance of competitive sports. Most (71%) based restrictions on patients' underlying heart disease. Regardless of recommendations, most physicians (71%) reported caring for patients who participated in sports, including many citing vigorous, competitive sports, most commonly cited were basketball, running, and skiing. ICD shocks during sports were common, cited by 40% of physicians. However, few adverse consequences were reported. One percent of physicians reported known injury to patient (all but 3 minor); 5%, injury to the ICD system, and weightlifting and golf. Physician recommendations for sports participation for patients with ICDs varies widely. Many patients with ICDs do participate in vigorous and even competitive sports. While shocks were common, significant adverse events were rare.

Current Trends in Radiation Protection Recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomaa, M.A.

2008-01-01

The third generation of the ICRP recommendations was adopted in April 2007. The recommendations rely on situations (planned, emergency and existing), individual (occupational, public and patient) and radiation protection system (justification, optimization and dose limits). In the present work attention is paid to discuss the new recommendations and role of IAEA in updating its Basic Safety Standards for protection against ionizing radiation and safety of radiation sources and its impact for the national regulations

A qualitative exploration of patients' attitudes towards the 'Participate Inform Notice Know' (PINK) patient safety video.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinto, Anna; Vincent, Charles; Darzi, Ara; Davis, Rachel

2013-02-01

To explore patients' attitudes towards the PINK video, a patient education video aimed at encouraging hospital patients' involvement in safety-relevant behaviours. Qualitative semi-structured interviews. Detailed field notes were taken during the interviews which were analysed using content analysis. One National Health System (NHS) teaching hospital based in London, UK. Thirty-six in-patients aged between 20 and 79 years, 18 of them males. The PINK video is a short animated educational video aimed at encouraging patients to be involved in the safety of their care during hospitalization. Patients' perceptions of how informative, relevant and acceptable the video is; attitudes towards participating in the recommended safety-related behaviours and; potential negative side effects of watching the video. Overall the video was received favourably among the interviewees. Commonly cited benefits included raising awareness and facilitating patients to be involved in their care during their hospital stay. More variability was found in participants' views with regard to the video's role as a patient safety enhancement tool. A number of suggestions for improvement of the video were provided relating to tailoring its content and design to meet the needs of individual patients and their circumstances. Educational videos such as PINK have significant potential to empower patients in the safety and quality of their care. However, efforts to implement patient safety educational videos in practice need to consider different patient groups' needs and characteristics instead of trying to adopt 'a one size fits all' approach.

76 FR 60495 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From the Patient Safety Group

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-29

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From the Patient Safety Group AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and... voluntary relinquishment from The Patient Safety Group of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO...

Errors in laboratory medicine: practical lessons to improve patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Howanitz, Peter J

2005-10-01

Patient safety is influenced by the frequency and seriousness of errors that occur in the health care system. Error rates in laboratory practices are collected routinely for a variety of performance measures in all clinical pathology laboratories in the United States, but a list of critical performance measures has not yet been recommended. The most extensive databases describing error rates in pathology were developed and are maintained by the College of American Pathologists (CAP). These databases include the CAP's Q-Probes and Q-Tracks programs, which provide information on error rates from more than 130 interlaboratory studies. To define critical performance measures in laboratory medicine, describe error rates of these measures, and provide suggestions to decrease these errors, thereby ultimately improving patient safety. A review of experiences from Q-Probes and Q-Tracks studies supplemented with other studies cited in the literature. Q-Probes studies are carried out as time-limited studies lasting 1 to 4 months and have been conducted since 1989. In contrast, Q-Tracks investigations are ongoing studies performed on a yearly basis and have been conducted only since 1998. Participants from institutions throughout the world simultaneously conducted these studies according to specified scientific designs. The CAP has collected and summarized data for participants about these performance measures, including the significance of errors, the magnitude of error rates, tactics for error reduction, and willingness to implement each of these performance measures. A list of recommended performance measures, the frequency of errors when these performance measures were studied, and suggestions to improve patient safety by reducing these errors. Error rates for preanalytic and postanalytic performance measures were higher than for analytic measures. Eight performance measures were identified, including customer satisfaction, test turnaround times, patient identification

Review of probabilistic safety assessments: insights and recommendations regarding further developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spitzer, C.

1996-01-01

Probabilistic Safety Assessments (PSAs) performed by utilities in the framework of Periodic Safety Reviews for German nuclear power plants are reviewed by TUeV Suedwest. Insights gained and recommendations concerning the necessity and focus of further developments and applications according to practical requests for the performance and assessment of PSAs within regulatory procedures are presented in this paper. Further on, recommendations are made in order to ensure the validity of the results of PSAs necessary in order to achieve the goals thereof. Beside some general points of view the emphasis of the paper is on methodological aspects with respect to evaluation methods and assessment of common cause failures as well as human reliability assessment

Implementing the 2009 Institute of Medicine recommendations on resident physician work hours, supervision, and safety

Science.gov (United States)

Blum, Alexander B; Shea, Sandra; Czeisler, Charles A; Landrigan, Christopher P; Leape, Lucian

2011-01-01

Long working hours and sleep deprivation have been a facet of physician training in the US since the advent of the modern residency system. However, the scientific evidence linking fatigue with deficits in human performance, accidents and errors in industries from aeronautics to medicine, nuclear power, and transportation has mounted over the last 40 years. This evidence has also spawned regulations to help ensure public safety across safety-sensitive industries, with the notable exception of medicine. In late 2007, at the behest of the US Congress, the Institute of Medicine embarked on a year-long examination of the scientific evidence linking resident physician sleep deprivation with clinical performance deficits and medical errors. The Institute of Medicine’s report, entitled “Resident duty hours: Enhancing sleep, supervision and safety”, published in January 2009, recommended new limits on resident physician work hours and workload, increased supervision, a heightened focus on resident physician safety, training in structured handovers and quality improvement, more rigorous external oversight of work hours and other aspects of residency training, and the identification of expanded funding sources necessary to implement the recommended reforms successfully and protect the public and resident physicians themselves from preventable harm. Given that resident physicians comprise almost a quarter of all physicians who work in hospitals, and that taxpayers, through Medicare and Medicaid, fund graduate medical education, the public has a deep investment in physician training. Patients expect to receive safe, high-quality care in the nation’s teaching hospitals. Because it is their safety that is at issue, their voices should be central in policy decisions affecting patient safety. It is likewise important to integrate the perspectives of resident physicians, policy makers, and other constituencies in designing new policies. However, since its release

Exploring relationships between patient safety culture and patients' assessments of hospital care.

Science.gov (United States)

Sorra, Joann; Khanna, Kabir; Dyer, Naomi; Mardon, Russ; Famolaro, Theresa

2014-10-01

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among 2 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality measures of hospital patient safety and quality, which reflect different perspectives on hospital performance: the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (Hospital SOPS)--a hospital employee patient safety culture survey--and the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Hospital Survey (CAHPS Hospital Survey)--a survey of the experiences of adult inpatients with hospital care and services. Our hypothesis was that these 2 measures would be positively related. We performed multiple regressions to examine the relationships between the Hospital SOPS measures and CAHPS Hospital Survey measures, controlling for hospital bed size and ownership. Analyses were conducted at the hospital level with each survey's measures using data from 73 hospitals that administered both surveys during similar periods. Higher overall Hospital SOPS composite average scores were associated with higher overall CAHPS Hospital Survey composite average scores (r = 0.41, P G 0.01). Twelve of 15 Hospital SOPS measures were positively related to the CAHPS Hospital Survey composite average score after controlling for bed size and ownership, with significant standardized regression coefficients ranging from 0.25 to 0.38. None of the Hospital SOPS measures were significantly correlated with either of the two single-item CAHPS Hospital Survey measures (hospital rating and willingness to recommend). This study found that hospitals where staff have more positive perceptions of patient safety culture tend to have more positive assessments of care from patients. This finding helps validate both surveys and suggests that improvements in patient safety culture may lead to improved patient experience with care. Further research is needed to determine the generalizability of these results to larger sets of hospitals, to hospital units, and to other settings of care.

77 FR 11120 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From UAB Health System Patient Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-24

... Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From UAB Health System Patient Safety Organization AGENCY: Agency for... notification of voluntary relinquishment from the UAB Health System Patient Safety Organization of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005...

DEVELOPING SAFETY INDICATORS ON THE BASIS OF THE ICAO RECOMMENDATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. D. Sharov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article offers direct use of the recommendations of SMM ICAO Doc.9859, 3rd ed. 2013, for calculation the target and alert levels of safety indicators. Examples of calculation based on data of 2011 and monitoring of the current indicators during 2012 are presented. Safety indicators for airlines in terms of “numbers of incidents per 1000 flight hours” could be calculated on the basis of the state values through the «coefficient of conformity».

Summary of Federal Aviation Administration Responses to National Transportation Safety Board Safety Recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

1981-01-01

i It: Wo. r (A’I) upr,;cl. ’ Vih t_’o a . hc pre-.ntal, i c ould (1lay a pilot’s t ;f,L..ion to a suit.bl, ba-ckup approach in th- event of radar or...analysis and your recommendation. Since y) ,anigh.ne Bond Admin ist rator 2 Enclosures NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. ISSUED: October

Quarterly report on Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 90-7 for the period ending December 31, 1992

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cash, R.J.; Dukelow, G.T.; Forbes, C.J.

1993-03-01

This is the seventh quarterly report on the progress of activities addressing safety issues associated with Hanford Site high-level radioactive waste tanks that contain ferrocyanide compounds. In the presence of oxidizing materials, such as nitrates or nitrites, ferrocyanide can be made to explode in the laboratory by heating it to high temperatures [above 285 degrees C (545 degrees F)]. In the mid 1950s approximately 140 metric tons of ferrocyanide were added to 24 underground high-level radioactive waste tanks. An implementation plan (Cash 1991) responding to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 90-7 (FR 1990) was issued in March 1991 describing the activities that were planned and underway to address each of the six parts of Recommendation 90-7. A revision to the original plan was transmitted to US Department of Energy by Westinghouse Hanford Company in December 1992. Milestones completed this quarter are described in this report. Contents of this report include: Introduction; Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Implementation Plan Task Activities (Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation for enhanced temperature measurement, Recommendation for continuous temperature monitoring, Recommendation for cover gas monitoring, Recommendation for ferrocyanide waste characterization, Recommendation for chemical reaction studies, and Recommendation for emergency response planning); Schedules; and References. All actions recommended by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board for emergency planning by Hanford Site emergency preparedness organizations have been completed

76 FR 71345 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From Emergency Medicine Patient Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-17

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From Emergency Medicine Patient Safety Foundation AGENCY: Agency for... notification of voluntary relinquishment from Emergency Medicine Patient Safety Foundation of its status as a...

78 FR 40146 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From Northern Metropolitan Patient Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-03

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From Northern Metropolitan Patient Safety Institute AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS. ACTION: Notice of Delisting. SUMMARY: The Patient Safety and...

76 FR 7853 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Delisting From Oregon Patient Safety Commission

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-11

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Delisting From Oregon Patient Safety Commission AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS. ACTION: Notice of delisting. SUMMARY: Oregon Patient Safety Commission: AHRQ...

[Patient safety culture in family and community medicine residents in Aragon].

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Cogollo, R; Paredes-Alvarado, I R; Galicia-Flores, T; Barrasa-Villar, J I; Castán-Ruiz, S

2014-01-01

having an appropriate patient safety culture is the first recommendation to improve it. The aim of this article is to determine the safety culture in family medicine residents and then to identify improvement strategies. an online cross-sectional survey of residents in family medicine teaching units of Aragon using the translated, validated and adapted to Spanish, Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture (MOSPS) questionnaire. The results were grouped in 12-dimensional responses for analysis, and the mean value of each dimension was calculated. Perceptions were described by Percentages of Positive (PRP) and Negative Responses (PRN) to each dimension. positive results were seen in «the Patient Care Tracking/Follow-up». There were significant differences in the «Information Exchange With Other Settings», «Staff Training» and «Overall Perceptions of Patient Safety and Quality». Study participants viewed «Work Pressure and Pace» negatively. the institutions providing health services, as well as their staff, are increasingly aware of the importance of improving Patient Safety, and the results of this study allowed us to present information that helps identify weaknesses, and to design initiatives and strategies to improve care practices. Copyright © 2013 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

76 FR 58812 - Patient Safety Organizations: Delisting for Cause of Patient Safety Organization One, Inc.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-22

... Organizations: Delisting for Cause of Patient Safety Organization One, Inc. AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS. ACTION: Notice of Delisting. SUMMARY: Patient Safety Organization One, Inc.: AHRQ has delisted Patient Safety Organization One, Inc. as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO...

A comparative review of patient safety initiatives for national health information technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Magrabi, Farah; Aarts, Jos; Nøhr, Christian

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To collect and critically review patient safety initiatives for health information technology (HIT). METHOD: Publicly promulgated set of advisories, recommendations, guidelines, or standards potentially addressing safe system design, build, implementation or use were identified...... by searching the websites of regional and national agencies and programmes in a non-exhaustive set of exemplar countries including England, Denmark, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada and Australia. Initiatives were categorised by type and software systems covered. RESULTS: We found 27 patient safety initiatives...... were aimed at certification in the USA, Canada and Australia. Safety is addressed alongside interoperability in the Australian certification programme but it is not explicitly addressed in the US and Canadian programmes, though conformance with specific functionality, interoperability, security...

Application of Bow-tie methodology to improve patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdi, Zhaleh; Ravaghi, Hamid; Abbasi, Mohsen; Delgoshaei, Bahram; Esfandiari, Somayeh

2016-05-09

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to apply Bow-tie methodology, a proactive risk assessment technique based on systemic approach, for prospective analysis of the risks threatening patient safety in intensive care unit (ICU). Design/methodology/approach - Bow-tie methodology was used to manage clinical risks threatening patient safety by a multidisciplinary team in the ICU. The Bow-tie analysis was conducted on incidents related to high-alert medications, ventilator associated pneumonia, catheter-related blood stream infection, urinary tract infection, and unwanted extubation. Findings - In total, 48 potential adverse events were analysed. The causal factors were identified and classified into relevant categories. The number and effectiveness of existing preventive and protective barriers were examined for each potential adverse event. The adverse events were evaluated according to the risk criteria and a set of interventions were proposed with the aim of improving the existing barriers or implementing new barriers. A number of recommendations were implemented in the ICU, while considering their feasibility. Originality/value - The application of Bow-tie methodology led to practical recommendations to eliminate or control the hazards identified. It also contributed to better understanding of hazard prevention and protection required for safe operations in clinical settings.

Using Simulations to Improve Electronic Health Record Use, Clinician Training and Patient Safety: Recommendations From A Consensus Conference

OpenAIRE

Mohan, Vishnu; Woodcock, Deborah; McGrath, Karess; Scholl, Gretchen; Pranaat, Robert; Doberne, Julie W.; Chase, Dian A.; Gold, Jeffrey A.; Ash, Joan S.

2017-01-01

A group of informatics experts in simulation, biomedical informatics, patient safety, medical education, and human factors gathered at Corbett, Oregon on April 30 and May 1, 2015. Their objective: to create a consensus statement on best practices for the use of electronic health record (EHR) simulations in education and training, to improve patient safety, and to outline a strategy for future EHR simulation work. A qualitative approach was utilized to analyze data from the conference and gene...

Patient safety, satisfaction, and quality of hospital care: cross sectional surveys of nurses and patients in 12 countries in Europe and the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Aiken, Linda H; Sermeus, Walter; Van den Heede, Koen; Sloane, Douglas M; Busse, Reinhard; McKee, Martin; Bruyneel, Luk; Rafferty, Anne Marie; Griffiths, Peter; Moreno-Casbas, Maria Teresa; Tishelman, Carol; Scott, Anne; Brzostek, Tomasz; Kinnunen, Juha; Schwendimann, Rene; Heinen, Maud; Zikos, Dimitris; Sjetne, Ingeborg Strømseng; Smith, Herbert L; Kutney-Lee, Ann

2012-03-20

To determine whether hospitals with a good organisation of care (such as improved nurse staffing and work environments) can affect patient care and nurse workforce stability in European countries. Cross sectional surveys of patients and nurses. Nurses were surveyed in general acute care hospitals (488 in 12 European countries; 617 in the United States); patients were surveyed in 210 European hospitals and 430 US hospitals. 33 659 nurses and 11 318 patients in Europe; 27 509 nurses and more than 120 000 patients in the US. Nurse outcomes (hospital staffing, work environments, burnout, dissatisfaction, intention to leave job in the next year, patient safety, quality of care), patient outcomes (satisfaction overall and with nursing care, willingness to recommend hospitals). The percentage of nurses reporting poor or fair quality of patient care varied substantially by country (from 11% (Ireland) to 47% (Greece)), as did rates for nurses who gave their hospital a poor or failing safety grade (4% (Switzerland) to 18% (Poland)). We found high rates of nurse burnout (10% (Netherlands) to 78% (Greece)), job dissatisfaction (11% (Netherlands) to 56% (Greece)), and intention to leave (14% (US) to 49% (Finland, Greece)). Patients' high ratings of their hospitals also varied considerably (35% (Spain) to 61% (Finland, Ireland)), as did rates of patients willing to recommend their hospital (53% (Greece) to 78% (Switzerland)). Improved work environments and reduced ratios of patients to nurses were associated with increased care quality and patient satisfaction. In European hospitals, after adjusting for hospital and nurse characteristics, nurses with better work environments were half as likely to report poor or fair care quality (adjusted odds ratio 0.56, 95% confidence interval 0.51 to 0.61) and give their hospitals poor or failing grades on patient safety (0.50, 0.44 to 0.56). Each additional patient per nurse increased the odds of nurses reporting poor or fair

Safety of vaccinations in patients with cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes: a prospective registry based study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jaeger, Veronika K.; Hoffman, Hal M.; van der Poll, Tom; Tilson, Hugh; Seibert, Julia; Speziale, Antonio; Junge, Guido; Franke, Kristina; Vritzali, Eleni; Hawkins, Philip N.; Kuemmerle-Deschner, Jasmin; Walker, Ulrich A.

2017-01-01

Pneumococcal, tetanus and influenza vaccinations are recommended for patients with cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS) when treated with immunosuppressive medication. The aim of this publication is to report the safety of pneumococcal and other vaccinations in CAPS patients. All CAPS

HRET patient safety leadership fellowship: the role of "community" in patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Leonhardt, Kathryn Kraft

2010-01-01

Community engagement is widely endorsed but poorly defined as a strategy to improve patient safety. With strong evidence that engaging patients can positively influence health outcomes, it is presumed that community engagement could improve patient safety. Leaning on the models from other disciplines such as public health, the adequate knowledge and application of the principles of community engagement are critical for this approach to be effective. This article provides a description of the theories supporting patient partnership and community engagement, reviews critical elements of successful community-based programs, and identifies the potential for empowering communities to improve patient safety.

Patient safety culture among nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Ammouri, A A; Tailakh, A K; Muliira, J K; Geethakrishnan, R; Al Kindi, S N

2015-03-01

Patient safety is considered to be crucial to healthcare quality and is one of the major parameters monitored by all healthcare organizations around the world. Nurses play a vital role in maintaining and promoting patient safety due to the nature of their work. The purpose of this study was to investigate nurses' perceptions about patient safety culture and to identify the factors that need to be emphasized in order to develop and maintain the culture of safety among nurses in Oman. A descriptive and cross-sectional design was used. Patient safety culture was assessed by using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture among 414 registered nurses working in four major governmental hospitals in Oman. Descriptive statistics and general linear regression were employed to assess the association between patient safety culture and demographic variables. Nurses who perceived more supervisor or manager expectations, feedback and communications about errors, teamwork across hospital units, and hospital handoffs and transitions had more overall perception of patient safety. Nurses who perceived more teamwork within units and more feedback and communications about errors had more frequency of events reported. Furthermore, nurses who had more years of experience and were working in teaching hospitals had more perception of patient safety culture. Learning and continuous improvement, hospital management support, supervisor/manager expectations, feedback and communications about error, teamwork, hospital handoffs and transitions were found to be major patient safety culture predictors. Investing in practices and systems that focus on improving these aspects is likely to enhance the culture of patient safety in Omani hospitals and others like them. Strategies to nurture patient safety culture in Omani hospitals should focus upon building leadership capacity that support open communication, blame free, team work and continuous organizational learning. © 2014 International

78 FR 59036 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From Cogent Patient Safety Organization, Inc.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-25

... Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From Cogent Patient Safety Organization, Inc. AGENCY: Agency for... for the formation of Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs), which collect, aggregate, and analyze... Cogent Patient Safety Organization, Inc. of its status as a PSO, and has delisted the PSO accordingly...

76 FR 9350 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Delisting From Rocky Mountain Patient Safety Organization

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-17

... Organizations: Voluntary Delisting From Rocky Mountain Patient Safety Organization AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare... Organization: AHRQ has accepted a notification of voluntary relinquishment from Rocky Mountain Patient Safety Organization, a component entity of Colorado Hospital Association, of its status as a Patient Safety...

Patient safety--worker safety: building a culture of safety to improve healthcare worker and patient well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Yassi, Annalee; Hancock, Tina

2005-01-01

Patient safety within the Canadian healthcare system is currently a high national priority, which merits a comprehensive understanding of the underlying causes of adverse events. Not least among these is worker health and safety, which is linked to patient outcomes. Healthcare workers have a high risk of workplace injuries and more mental health problems than most other occupational groups. Many healthcare professionals feel fatigued, stressed, in pain, or at risk of illness or injury-factors they feel impede their ability to provide consistent quality care. With this background, the Occupational Health and Safety Agency for Healthcare (OHSAH) in British Columbia, jointly governed by healthcare unions and healthcare employers, launched several major initiatives to improve the healthcare workplace. These included the promotion of safe patient handling, adaptive clothing, scheduled toileting, stroke management training, measures to improve management of aggressive behaviour and, of course, infection control-all intended to improve the safety of workers, but also to improve patient safety and quality of care. Other projects also explicitly promoting physical and mental health at work, as well as patient safety are also underway. Results of the projects are at various stages of completion, but ample evidence has already been obtained to indicate that looking after the well-being of healthcare workers results in safer and better quality patient care. While more research is needed, our work to date suggests that a comprehensive systems approach to promoting a climate of safety, which includes taking into account workplace organizational factors and physical and psychological hazards for workers, is the best way to improve the healthcare workplace and thereby patient safety.

Key performance outcomes of patient safety curricula: root cause analysis, failure mode and effects analysis, and structured communications skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Fassett, William E

2011-10-10

As colleges and schools of pharmacy develop core courses related to patient safety, course-level outcomes will need to include both knowledge and performance measures. Three key performance outcomes for patient safety coursework, measured at the course level, are the ability to perform root cause analyses and healthcare failure mode effects analyses, and the ability to generate effective safety communications using structured formats such as the Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) situational briefing model. Each of these skills is widely used in patient safety work and competence in their use is essential for a pharmacist's ability to contribute as a member of a patient safety team.

Recommendations of the Reactor Safety Commission (RSK) 1981-1983. Vol. 5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-02-01

Since the reorganization of the RSK in 1971 the recommendations are published in the ''Bundesanzeiger'' (BAnz). This makes the work of the RSK transparent for the public. After publication of the recommendations in the Bundesanzeiger, the Office of the RSK publishes them once more as a summary report by order of the Federal Minister of Interior. The reports are divided generally into two parts: Part I contains the recommendations which are given by the RSK; part II contains the official notices concerning the RSK. There is also a subject index. In addition volume 5 contains as part III all papers which were held on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Reactor Safety Commission. (orig./HP) [de

Taking up national safety alerts to improve patient safety in hospitals: The perspective of healthcare quality and risk managers.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeiffer, Yvonne; Schwappach, David

2016-01-01

National safety alert systems publish relevant information to improve patient safety in hospitals. However, the information has to be transformed into local action to have an effect on patient safety. We studied three research questions: How do Swiss healthcare quality and risk managers (qm/rm(1)) see their own role in learning from safety alerts issued by the Swiss national voluntary reporting and analysis system? What are their attitudes towards and evaluations of the alerts, and which types of improvement actions were fostered by the safety alerts? A survey was developed and applied to Swiss healthcare risk and quality managers, with a response rate of 39 % (n=116). Descriptive statistics are presented. The qm/rm disseminate and communicate with a broad variety of professional groups about the alerts. While most respondents felt that they should know the alerts and their contents, only a part of them felt responsible for driving organizational change based on the recommendations. However, most respondents used safety alerts to back up their own patient safety goals. The alerts were evaluated positively on various dimensions such as usefulness and were considered as standards of good practice by the majority of the respondents. A range of organizational responses was applied, with disseminating information being the most common. An active role is related to using safety alerts for backing up own patient safety goals. To support an active role of qm/rm in their hospital's learning from safety alerts, appropriate organizational structures should be developed. Furthermore, they could be given special information or training to act as an information hub on the issues discussed in the alerts. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Patient involvement in patient safety: Protocol for developing an intervention using patient reports of organisational safety and patient incident reporting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Armitage Gerry

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patients have the potential to provide a rich source of information on both organisational aspects of safety and patient safety incidents. This project aims to develop two patient safety interventions to promote organisational learning about safety - a patient measure of organisational safety (PMOS, and a patient incident reporting tool (PIRT - to help the NHS prevent patient safety incidents by learning more about when and why they occur. Methods To develop the PMOS 1 literature will be reviewed to identify similar measures and key contributory factors to error; 2 four patient focus groups will ascertain practicality and feasibility; 3 25 patient interviews will elicit approximately 60 items across 10 domains; 4 10 patient and clinician interviews will test acceptability and understanding. Qualitative data will be analysed using thematic content analysis. To develop the PIRT 1 individual and then combined patient and clinician focus groups will provide guidance for the development of three potential reporting tools; 2 nine wards across three hospital directorates will pilot each of the tools for three months. The best performing tool will be identified from the frequency, volume and quality of reports. The validity of both measures will be tested. 300 patients will be asked to complete the PMOS and PIRT during their stay in hospital. A sub-sample (N = 50 will complete the PMOS again one week later. Health professionals in participating wards will also be asked to complete the AHRQ safety culture questionnaire. Case notes for all patients will be reviewed. The psychometric properties of the PMOS will be assessed and a final valid and reliable version developed. Concurrent validity for the PIRT will be assessed by comparing reported incidents with those identified from case note review and the existing staff reporting scheme. In a subsequent study these tools will be used to provide information to wards/units about their

78 FR 66326 - Hazardous Materials: Rail Petitions and Recommendations To Improve the Safety of Railroad Tank...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-05

...: Rail Petitions and Recommendations To Improve the Safety of Railroad Tank Car Transportation (RRR) AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT. ACTION: Advance Notice of... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Parts...

Priming patient safety: A middle-range theory of safety goal priming via safety culture communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Groves, Patricia S; Bunch, Jacinda L

2018-05-18

The aim of this paper is discussion of a new middle-range theory of patient safety goal priming via safety culture communication. Bedside nurses are key to safe care, but there is little theory about how organizations can influence nursing behavior through safety culture to improve patient safety outcomes. We theorize patient safety goal priming via safety culture communication may support organizations in this endeavor. According to this theory, hospital safety culture communication activates a previously held patient safety goal and increases the perceived value of actions nurses can take to achieve that goal. Nurses subsequently prioritize and are motivated to perform tasks and risk assessment related to achieving patient safety. These efforts continue until nurses mitigate or ameliorate identified risks and hazards during the patient care encounter. Critically, this process requires nurses to have a previously held safety goal associated with a repertoire of appropriate actions. This theory suggests undergraduate educators should foster an outcomes focus emphasizing the connections between nursing interventions and safety outcomes, hospitals should strategically structure patient safety primes into communicative activities, and organizations should support professional development including new skills and the latest evidence supporting nursing practice for patient safety. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Implementing the 2009 Institute of Medicine recommendations on resident physician work hours, supervision, and safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Blum, Alexander B; Shea, Sandra; Czeisler, Charles A; Landrigan, Christopher P; Leape, Lucian

2011-01-01

Long working hours and sleep deprivation have been a facet of physician training in the US since the advent of the modern residency system. However, the scientific evidence linking fatigue with deficits in human performance, accidents and errors in industries from aeronautics to medicine, nuclear power, and transportation has mounted over the last 40 years. This evidence has also spawned regulations to help ensure public safety across safety-sensitive industries, with the notable exception of medicine. In late 2007, at the behest of the US Congress, the Institute of Medicine embarked on a year-long examination of the scientific evidence linking resident physician sleep deprivation with clinical performance deficits and medical errors. The Institute of Medicine's report, entitled "Resident duty hours: Enhancing sleep, supervision and safety", published in January 2009, recommended new limits on resident physician work hours and workload, increased supervision, a heightened focus on resident physician safety, training in structured handovers and quality improvement, more rigorous external oversight of work hours and other aspects of residency training, and the identification of expanded funding sources necessary to implement the recommended reforms successfully and protect the public and resident physicians themselves from preventable harm. Given that resident physicians comprise almost a quarter of all physicians who work in hospitals, and that taxpayers, through Medicare and Medicaid, fund graduate medical education, the public has a deep investment in physician training. Patients expect to receive safe, high-quality care in the nation's teaching hospitals. Because it is their safety that is at issue, their voices should be central in policy decisions affecting patient safety. It is likewise important to integrate the perspectives of resident physicians, policy makers, and other constituencies in designing new policies. However, since its release, discussion of the

Developing patient safety in dentistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Pemberton, M N

2014-10-01

Patient safety has always been important and is a source of public concern. Recent high profile scandals and subsequent reports, such as the Francis report into the failings at Mid Staffordshire, have raised those concerns even higher. Mortality and significant morbidity associated with the practice of medicine has led to many strategies to help improve patient safety, however, with its lack of associated mortality and lower associated morbidity, dentistry has been slower at systematically considering how patient safety can be improved. Recently, several organisations, researchers and clinicians have discussed the need for a patient safety culture in dentistry. Strategies are available to help improve patient safety in healthcare and deserve further consideration in dentistry.

Patient safety climate and worker safety behaviours in acute hospitals in Scotland.

Science.gov (United States)

Agnew, Cakil; Flin, Rhona; Mearns, Kathryn

2013-06-01

To obtain a measure of hospital safety climate from a sample of National Health Service (NHS) acute hospitals in Scotland and to test whether these scores were associated with worker safety behaviors, and patient and worker injuries. Data were from 1,866 NHS clinical staff in six Scottish acute hospitals. A Scottish Hospital Safety Questionnaire measured hospital safety climate (Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture), worker safety behaviors, and worker and patient injuries. The associations between the hospital safety climate scores and the outcome measures (safety behaviors, worker and patient injury rates) were examined. Hospital safety climate scores were significantly correlated with clinical workers' safety behavior and patient and worker injury measures, although the effect sizes were smaller for the latter. Regression analyses revealed that perceptions of staffing levels and managerial commitment were significant predictors for all the safety outcome measures. Both patient-specific and more generic safety climate items were found to have significant impacts on safety outcome measures. This study demonstrated the influences of different aspects of hospital safety climate on both patient and worker safety outcomes. Moreover, it has been shown that in a hospital setting, a safety climate supporting safer patient care would also help to ensure worker safety. The Scottish Hospital Safety Questionnaire has proved to be a usable method of measuring both hospital safety climate as well as patient and worker safety outcomes. Copyright © 2013 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

76 FR 9351 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Delisting From West Virginia Center for Patient Safety

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-17

... Patient Safety, a component entity of West Virginia Hospital Association, West Virginia Medical Institute (WVMI), and West Virginia State Medical. Association (WVSMA), of its status as a Patient Safety... Patient Safety, a component entity of West Virginia Hospital Association, West Virginia Medical Institute...

Recommendations for preparing the criticality safety evaluation of transportation packages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dyer, H.R.; Parks, C.V.

1997-04-01

This report provides recommendations on preparing the criticality safety section of an application for approval of a transportation package containing fissile material. The analytical approach to the evaluation is emphasized rather than the performance standards that the package must meet. Where performance standards are addressed, this report incorporates the requirements of 10 CFR Part 71. 12 refs., 6 figs., 8 tabs

Laboratory errors and patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Miligy, Dawlat A

2015-01-01

Laboratory data are extensively used in medical practice; consequently, laboratory errors have a tremendous impact on patient safety. Therefore, programs designed to identify and reduce laboratory errors, as well as, setting specific strategies are required to minimize these errors and improve patient safety. The purpose of this paper is to identify part of the commonly encountered laboratory errors throughout our practice in laboratory work, their hazards on patient health care and some measures and recommendations to minimize or to eliminate these errors. Recording the encountered laboratory errors during May 2008 and their statistical evaluation (using simple percent distribution) have been done in the department of laboratory of one of the private hospitals in Egypt. Errors have been classified according to the laboratory phases and according to their implication on patient health. Data obtained out of 1,600 testing procedure revealed that the total number of encountered errors is 14 tests (0.87 percent of total testing procedures). Most of the encountered errors lay in the pre- and post-analytic phases of testing cycle (representing 35.7 and 50 percent, respectively, of total errors). While the number of test errors encountered in the analytic phase represented only 14.3 percent of total errors. About 85.7 percent of total errors were of non-significant implication on patients health being detected before test reports have been submitted to the patients. On the other hand, the number of test errors that have been already submitted to patients and reach the physician represented 14.3 percent of total errors. Only 7.1 percent of the errors could have an impact on patient diagnosis. The findings of this study were concomitant with those published from the USA and other countries. This proves that laboratory problems are universal and need general standardization and bench marking measures. Original being the first data published from Arabic countries that

Disposition of recommendations of the National Research Council in the report ''Revitalizing Nuclear Safety Research''

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-06-01

On December 8, 1986, the Committee on Nuclear Safety Research of the National Research Council submitted its report, ''Revitalizing Nuclear Safety Research,'' to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The Commission and its staff have carefully reviewed the Committee's report and have extensively examined the planning, implementation, and management of NRC research programs in order to respond most effectively to the Committee's recommendations. This report presents the Commission's view of the Committee's report and describes the actions that are under way in response to its recommendations

Can patient involvement improve patient safety? A cluster randomised control trial of the Patient Reporting and Action for a Safe Environment (PRASE) intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawton, Rebecca; O'Hara, Jane Kathryn; Sheard, Laura; Armitage, Gerry; Cocks, Kim; Buckley, Hannah; Corbacho, Belen; Reynolds, Caroline; Marsh, Claire; Moore, Sally; Watt, Ian; Wright, John

2017-08-01

To evaluate the efficacy of the Patient Reporting and Action for a Safe Environment intervention. A multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial. Clusters were 33 hospital wards within five hospitals in the UK. All patients able to give informed consent were eligible to take part. Wards were allocated to the intervention or control condition. The ward-level intervention comprised two tools: (1) a questionnaire that asked patients about factors contributing to safety (patient measure of safety (PMOS)) and (2) a proforma for patients to report both safety concerns and positive experiences (patient incident reporting tool). Feedback was considered in multidisciplinary action planning meetings. Primary outcomes were routinely collected ward-level harm-free care (HFC) scores and patient-level feedback on safety (PMOS). Intervention uptake and retention of wards was 100% and patient participation was high (86%). We found no significant effect of the intervention on any outcomes at 6 or 12 months. However, for new harms (ie, those for which the wards were directly accountable) intervention wards did show greater, though non-significant, improvement compared with control wards. Analyses also indicated that improvements were largest for wards that showed the greatest compliance with the intervention. Adherence to the intervention, particularly the implementation of action plans, was poor. Patient safety outcomes may represent too blunt a measure. Patients are willing to provide feedback about the safety of their care. However, we were unable to demonstrate any overall effect of this intervention on either measure of patient safety and therefore cannot recommend this intervention for wider uptake. Findings indicate promise for increasing HFC where wards implement ≥75% of the intervention components. ISRCTN07689702; pre-results. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

77 FR 25179 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From Surgical Safety Institute

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-27

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety... voluntary relinquishment from the Surgical Safety Institute of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act) authorizes the...

National Patient Safety Foundation

Science.gov (United States)

... News Member Testimonials Lifetime Members Stand Up for Patient Safety Welcome Stand Up Members Stand Up e-News ... PLS Webcast Archives Stand Up Templates and Logos Patient Safety Coalition Coalition Overview Coalition Member Roster Members-Only ...

Safety for all: bringing together patient and employee safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, R Lynn; Moss, Lesley; Newlands, Tracey; Archer, Jana

2013-01-01

The safety of patients and of employees in healthcare have historically been separately managed and regulated. Despite efforts to reduce injury rates for employees and adverse events for patients, healthcare organizations continue to see less-than-optimal outcomes in both domains. This article challenges readers to consider how the traditional siloed approach to patient and employee safety can lead to duplication of effort, confusion, missed opportunities and unintended consequences. The authors propose that only through integrating patient and employee safety activities and challenging the paradigms that juxtapose the two will healthcare organizations experience sustained and improved safety practice and outcomes. Copyright © 2013 Longwoods Publishing.

Control of doses delivered to patients in medical imagery. Progress report of the program of actions recommended by the ASN. January 2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

This report proposes an overview and an assessment of the various actions recommended by the ASN (the French Nuclear Safety Authority) for a better management of doses delivered to patients in the case of medical imagery. It indicates and discusses the progress noticed: actions which have been already performed, actions which are currently in progress, and actions which are still to be launched. These actions concern various aspects: the practice quality and safety (quality and safety management), the organisation, human resources and training, equipment and installation safety, radio-vigilance practices, relationships with patients, knowledge of practices and of exposures of patients and workers. Some highlights are outlined: some persistent lacks in human resources, some encouraging initiatives in the field of training, some progresses in the field of practice quality and safety, and some limited results regarding equipment (notably MRI) and installation safety

Patient Safety Learning Systems: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

A patient safety learning system (sometimes called a critical incident reporting system) refers to structured reporting, collation, and analysis of critical incidents. To inform a provincial working group's recommendations for an Ontario Patient Safety Event Learning System, a systematic review was undertaken to determine design features that would optimize its adoption into the health care system and would inform implementation strategies. The objective of this review was to address two research questions: (a) what are the barriers to and facilitators of successful adoption of a patient safety learning system reported by health professionals and (b) what design components maximize successful adoption and implementation? To answer the first question, we used a published systematic review. To answer the second question, we used scoping study methodology. Common barriers reported in the literature by health care professionals included fear of blame, legal penalties, the perception that incident reporting does not improve patient safety, lack of organizational support, inadequate feedback, lack of knowledge about incident reporting systems, and lack of understanding about what constitutes an error. Common facilitators included a non-accusatory environment, the perception that incident reporting improves safety, clarification of the route of reporting and of how the system uses reports, enhanced feedback, role models (such as managers) using and promoting reporting, legislated protection of those who report, ability to report anonymously, education and training opportunities, and clear guidelines on what to report. Components of a patient safety learning system that increased successful adoption and implementation were emphasis on a blame-free culture that encourages reporting and learning, clear guidelines on how and what to report, making sure the system is user-friendly, organizational development support for data analysis to generate meaningful learning outcomes

IMPROVING PATIENT SAFETY:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bagger, Bettan; Taylor Kelly, Hélène; Hørdam, Britta

Improving patient safety is both a national and international priority as millions of patients Worldwide suffer injury or death every year due to unsafe care. University College Zealand employs innovative pedagogical approaches in educational design. Regional challenges related to geographic......, social and cultural factors have resulted in a greater emphasis upon digital technology. Attempts to improve patient safety by optimizing students’ competencies in relation to the reporting of clinical errors, has resulted in the development of an interdisciplinary e-learning concept. The program makes...

Challenging patient safety culture: survey results

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hellings, Johan; Schrooten, Ward; Klazinga, Niek; Vleugels, Arthur

2007-01-01

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to measure patient safety culture in five Belgian general hospitals. Safety culture plays an important role in the approach towards greater patient safety in hospitals. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The Patient Safety Culture Hospital questionnaire was

The work environment and empowerment as predictors of patient safety culture in Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Dirik, Hasan Fehmi; Intepeler, Seyda Seren

2017-05-01

As scant research based information is available regarding the work environment, empowerment and patient safety culture, this study from a developing country (Turkey) in which health care institutions are in a state of transition, aimed to investigate further the relationships between these three variables. A cross-sectional descriptive design was employed. The sample comprised 274 nurse participants working in a university hospital located in Izmir (Turkey). In data evaluation, descriptive statistics and hierarchical regression analyses were applied. The work environment and structural empowerment were related to the patient safety culture and explained 55% of the variance in patient safety culture perceptions. 'Support for optimal patient care', 'nurse/physician relationships' and 'staff involvement in organisational affairs' were the significant predictors. An enhancement of the work environment and providing access to empowerment structures may help health care organisations improve the patient safety culture. In light of the findings, the following actions can be recommended to inform health care leaders: providing necessary resources for nursing practise, encouraging nurses' participation in decision-making, strengthening communication within the team and giving nurses the opportunities to cope with challenging work problems to learn and grow. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Attitude of Nurses toward the Patient Safety Culture: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Hospitals in Tehran, Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryam Saberi

2017-07-01

Conclusion: According to the results, attitude of the nurses in the selected hospitals was poor toward the dimensions of the patient safety culture. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that specific training interventions be performed to enhance the work conditions and safety climate in these hospitals

Researchers' Roles in Patient Safety Improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Pietikäinen, Elina; Reiman, Teemu; Heikkilä, Jouko; Macchi, Luigi

2016-03-01

In this article, we explore how researchers can contribute to patient safety improvement. We aim to expand the instrumental role researchers have often occupied in relation to patient safety improvement. We reflect on our own improvement model and experiences as patient safety researchers in an ongoing Finnish multi-actor innovation project through self-reflective narration. Our own patient safety improvement model can be described as systemic. Based on the purpose of the innovation project, our improvement model, and the improvement models of the other actors in the project, we have carried out a wide range of activities. Our activities can be summarized in 8 overlapping patient safety improvement roles: modeler, influencer, supplier, producer, ideator, reflector, facilitator, and negotiator. When working side by side with "practice," researchers are offered and engage in several different activities. The way researchers contribute to patient safety improvement and balance between different roles depends on the purpose of the study, as well as on the underlying patient safety improvement models. Different patient safety research paradigms seem to emphasize different improvement roles, and thus, they also face different challenges. Open reflection on the underlying improvement models and roles can help researchers with different backgrounds-as well as other actors involved in patient safety improvement-in structuring their work and collaborating productively.

Innovative Patient Safety Curriculum Using iPAD Game (PASSED) Improved Patient Safety Concepts in Undergraduate Medical Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Kow, A W C; Ang, B L S; Chong, C S; Tan, W B; Menon, K R

2016-11-01

While healthcare outcomes have improved significantly, the complex management of diseases in the hospitals has also escalated the risks in patient safety. Therefore, in the process of training medical students to be proficient in medical knowledge and skills, the importance of patient safety cannot be neglected. A new innovation using mobile apps gaming system (PAtient Safety in Surgical EDucation-PASSED) to teach medical students on patient safety was created. Students were taught concepts of patient safety followed by a gaming session using iPad games created by us. This study aims to evaluate the outcome of patient safety perception using the PASSED games created. An interactive iPad game focusing on patient safety issues was created by the undergraduate education team in the Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore. The game employed the unique touched-screen feature with clinical scenarios extracted from the hospital sentinel events. Some of the questions were time sensitive, with extra bonus marks awarded if the student provided the correct answer within 10 s. Students could reattempt the questions if the initial answer was wrong. However, this entailed demerit points. Third-year medical students posted to the Department of Surgery experienced this gaming system in a cohort of 55-60 students. Baseline understanding of the students on patient safety was evaluated using Attitudes to Patient Safety Questionnaire III (APSQ-III) prior to the game. A 20 min talk on concept of patient safety using the WHO Patient Safety Guidelines was conducted. Following this, students downloaded the apps from ITune store and played with the game for 20-30 min. The session ended with the students completing the postintervention questionnaire. A total of 221 3rd year medical students responded to the survey during the PASSED session. Majority of the students felt that the PASSED game had trained them to understand the

Radiation safety, protection and recommendations in dentistry - a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castelino, Renita

2013-01-01

Radiation is the transmission of energy through space and matter. Diagnostic radiology uses ionizing radiations which have sufficient energy to ionize atoms or molecules in biological and other systems. X-rays used in diagnostic radiology are a potent mutagenic agent, capable of inducing both gene mutations and chromosomal aberrations. X-rays are extensively used in medical and dental practice for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment. X-rays provide useful information and aid in diagnosis but at the same time they also have the potential to cause harmful effects. In dentistry X-rays are used mainly for diagnosis. Radiation in doses required for dentistry may not present any major risks, however these small doses are not necessarily risk free. Hence, no exposure to X-rays can be considered completely free of risk, so the use of radiation by dentists is accompanied by a responsibility to ensure appropriate protection. Several radiation safety measures have been recommended and advocated to reduce harmful effects. Dental professionals are the only practitioners who perform radiographical examination of their patients themselves. Although the exposure used in dentistry is low every effort should be made to reduce radiation in order to prevent the accumulated dose to the dentist in their lifetime. The dose reduction can be achieved in three main steps. They are decision making, optimising radiologic procedures and patient protection. The potential for undesirable effects must be balanced against the benefits obtained from radiographs. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to review important parameters that must be taken into consideration in the clinical set up to reduce radiation exposure to patients and dental personnel. (author)

Exercise recommendations in patients with newly diagnosed fibromyalgia.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Brad; Spencer, Horace; Kortebein, Patrick

2012-04-01

To evaluate exercise recommendations in patients newly diagnosed with fibromyalgia. A retrospective chart review. A public university rheumatology clinic. Patients newly diagnosed with fibromyalgia (N = 122). Frequency and type of exercise recommendations. The mean (standard deviation) age of these patients with fibromyalgia was 45 ± 12 years; 91% were women. Exercise was recommended as part of the documented treatment plan in 47% of these patients (57/122); only 3 patients had a documented contraindication for exercise. Aquatic exercise was most frequently recommended (56% [32/57]), followed by combined aquatic-aerobic exercise (26% [15/57]), and, infrequently, aerobic exercise only (5% [3/57]); only 7% of these patients (4/57) were referred for physical therapy. The primary method of communication was verbal discussion (94% [54/57]). Although there is well-documented evidence that exercise is beneficial for patients with fibromyalgia, we found that less than half of patients with newly diagnosed fibromyalgia in our study were provided recommendations to initiate an exercise program as part of their treatment plan. Further investigation of these findings are warranted, including evaluation of other university and community rheumatology practices as well as that of other physicians caring for patients with fibromyalgia. However, our findings indicate that there appears to be an opportunity to provide more specific and practical education regarding the implementation of an exercise regimen for patients with newly diagnosed fibromyalgia. Physiatrists may be particularly well suited to manage the exercise component of patients with fibromyalgia because of their specialized training in exercise prescription. Copyright © 2012 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Measuring patient safety culture in Taiwan using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC).

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, I-Chi; Li, Hung-Hui

2010-06-07

Patient safety is a critical component to the quality of health care. As health care organizations endeavour to improve their quality of care, there is a growing recognition of the importance of establishing a culture of patient safety. In this research, the authors use the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) questionnaire to assess the culture of patient safety in Taiwan and attempt to provide an explanation for some of the phenomena that are unique in Taiwan. The authors used HSOPSC to measure the 12 dimensions of the patient safety culture from 42 hospitals in Taiwan. The survey received 788 respondents including physicians, nurses, and non-clinical staff. This study used SPSS 15.0 for Windows and Amos 7 software tools to perform the statistical analysis on the survey data, including descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analysis of the structural equation model. The overall average positive response rate for the 12 patient safety culture dimensions of the HSOPSC survey was 64%, slightly higher than the average positive response rate for the AHRQ data (61%). The results showed that hospital staff in Taiwan feel positively toward patient safety culture in their organization. The dimension that received the highest positive response rate was "Teamwork within units", similar to the results reported in the US. The dimension with the lowest percentage of positive responses was "Staffing". Statistical analysis showed discrepancies between Taiwan and the US in three dimensions, including "Feedback and communication about error", "Communication openness", and "Frequency of event reporting". The HSOPSC measurement provides evidence for assessing patient safety culture in Taiwan. The results show that in general, hospital staffs in Taiwan feel positively toward patient safety culture within their organization. The existence of discrepancies between the US data and the Taiwanese data suggest that cultural uniqueness should be taken into

PATIENT SAFETY IN SURGERY: THE QUALITY OF IMPLEMENTATION OF PATIENT SAFETY CHECKLISTS IN A REGIONAL HOSPITAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Karyadinata

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Patient safety and the avoidance of inhospital adverse events is a key focus of clinical practice and medical audit. A large of proportion of medical errors affect surgical patients in the peri-operative setting. Safety checklists have been adopted by the medical profession from the aviation industry as a cheap and reliable method of avoiding errors which arise from complex or stressful situations. Current evidence suggests that the use of periooperative checklists has led to a decrease in surgical morbidity and hospital costs. Aim. To assess the quality of implementation of a modified patient safety checklist in a UK district general hospital. Methods. An observational tool was designed to assess in real time the peri-operative performance of the surgical safety checklist in patients undergoing general surgical, urological or orthopaedic procedures. Initiation of the checklist, duration of performance and staff participation were audited in real time. Results. 338 cases were monitored. Nurses were most active in initiating the safety checklist. The checklist was performed successfully in less than a minute in most cases. 11-24% of staff (according to professional group present in the operating room did not participate in the checklist. Critical safety checks (patient identity and procedure name were performed in all cases across all specialties. Variations were noted in checking other categories, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT prophylaxis or patient warming. Conclusions. There is still a potential for improving the practice and culture of surgical patient safety activities. Staff training and designation of patient safety leadership roles is needed in increasing compliance and implementation of patient safety mechanism, such as peri-operative checklists. There is significant data to advocate the need to implement patient safety surgical checklists internationally

Laboratory safety and the WHO World Alliance for Patient Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

McCay, Layla; Lemer, Claire; Wu, Albert W

2009-06-01

Laboratory medicine has been a pioneer in the field of patient safety; indeed, the College of American Pathology first called attention to the issue in 1946. Delivering reliable laboratory results has long been considered a priority, as the data produced in laboratory medicine have the potential to critically influence individual patients' diagnosis and management. Until recently, most attention on laboratory safety has focused on the analytic stage of laboratory medicine. Addressing this stage has led to significant and impressive improvements in the areas over which laboratories have direct control. However, recent data demonstrate that pre- and post-analytical phases are at least as vulnerable to errors; to further improve patient safety in laboratory medicine, attention must now be focused on the pre- and post-analytic phases, and the concept of patient safety as a multi-disciplinary, multi-stage and multi-system concept better understood. The World Alliance for Patient Safety (WAPS) supports improvement of patient safety globally and provides a potential framework for considering the total testing process.

Patient participation in patient safety and nursing input - a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaismoradi, Mojtaba; Jordan, Sue; Kangasniemi, Mari

2015-03-01

This systematic review aims to synthesise the existing research on how patients participate in patient safety initiatives. Ambiguities remain about how patients participate in routine measures designed to promote patient safety. Systematic review using integrative methods. Electronic databases were searched using keywords describing patient involvement, nursing input and patient safety initiatives to retrieve empirical research published between 2007 and 2013. Findings were synthesized using the theoretical domains of Vincent's framework for analysing risk and safety in clinical practice: "patient", "healthcare provider", "task", "work environment", "organisation & management". We identified 17 empirical research papers: four qualitative, one mixed-method and 12 quantitative designs. All 17 papers indicated that patients can participate in safety initiatives. Improving patient participation in patient safety necessitates considering the patient as a person, the nurse as healthcare provider, the task of participation and the clinical environment. Patients' knowledge, health conditions, beliefs and experiences influence their decisions to engage in patient safety initiatives. An important component of the management of long-term conditions is to ensure that patients have sufficient knowledge to participate. Healthcare providers may need further professional development in patient education and patient care management to promote patient involvement in patient safety, and ensure that patients understand that they are 'allowed' to inform nurses of adverse events or errors. A healthcare system characterised by patient-centredness and mutual acknowledgement will support patient participation in safety practices. Further research is required to improve international knowledge of patient participation in patient safety in different disciplines, contexts and cultures. Patients have a significant role to play in enhancing their own safety while receiving hospital care. This

Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aikaterini Toska

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Due to a variety of circumstances and world-wide research findings, patient safety andquality care during hospitalization have emerged as major issues. Patient safety deficits may burdenhealth systems as well as allocated resources. The international community has examined severalproposals covering general and systemic aspects in order to improve patient safety; several long-termprograms and strategies have also been implemented promoting the participation of health-relatedagents, and also government agencies and non-governmental organizations.Aim: Those factors that have negative correlations with patient safety and quality healthcare weredetermined; WHO and EU programs as well as the Greek health policy were also reviewed.Method: Local and international literature was reviewed, including EU and WHO official publications,by using the appropriate keywords.Conclusions: International cooperation on patient safety is necessary in order to improvehospitalization and healthcare quality standards. Such incentives depend heavily on establishing worldwideviable and effective health programs and planning. These improvements also require further stepson safe work procedures, environment safety, hazard management, infection control, safe use ofequipment and medication, and sufficient healthcare staff.

Exploring relationships between hospital patient safety culture and Consumer Reports safety scores.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Scott Alan; Yount, Naomi; Sorra, Joann

2017-02-16

A number of private and public companies calculate and publish proprietary hospital patient safety scores based on publicly available quality measures initially reported by the U.S. federal government. This study examines whether patient safety culture perceptions of U.S. hospital staff in a large national survey are related to publicly reported patient safety ratings of hospitals. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (Hospital SOPS) assesses provider and staff perceptions of hospital patient safety culture. Consumer Reports (CR), a U.S. based non-profit organization, calculates and shares with its subscribers a Hospital Safety Score calculated annually from patient experience survey data and outcomes data gathered from federal databases. Linking data collected during similar time periods, we analyzed relationships between staff perceptions of patient safety culture composites and the CR Hospital Safety Score and its five components using multiple multivariate linear regressions. We analyzed data from 164 hospitals, with patient safety culture survey responses from 140,316 providers and staff, with an average of 856 completed surveys per hospital and an average response rate per hospital of 56%. Higher overall Hospital SOPS composite average scores were significantly associated with higher overall CR Hospital Safety Scores (β = 0.24, p Consumer Reports Hospital Safety Score, which is a composite of patient experience and outcomes data from federal databases. As hospital managers allocate resources to improve patient safety culture within their organizations, their efforts may also indirectly improve consumer-focused, publicly reported hospital rating scores like the Consumer Reports Hospital Safety Score.

Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality

OpenAIRE

Aikaterini Toska; Panagiotis Kyloudis; Maria Rekleiti; Maria Saridi

2012-01-01

Introduction: Due to a variety of circumstances and world-wide research findings, patient safety andquality care during hospitalization have emerged as major issues. Patient safety deficits may burdenhealth systems as well as allocated resources. The international community has examined severalproposals covering general and systemic aspects in order to improve patient safety; several long-termprograms and strategies have also been implemented promoting the participation of health-relatedagent...

Acute care patients discuss the patient role in patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Rathert, Cheryl; Huddleston, Nicole; Pak, Youngju

2011-01-01

Patient safety has been a highly researched topic in health care since the year 2000. One strategy for improving patient safety has been to encourage patients to take an active role in their safety during their health care experiences. However, little research has shed light on how patients view their roles. This study attempted to address this deficit by inductively exploring the results of a qualitative study in which patients reported their ideas about what they believe their roles should be. Patients with an overnight stay in the previous 90 days at one of three hospitals were surveyed using a mailing methodology. Of 1,040 respondents, 491 provided an open-ended response regarding what they believe the patient role should be. Qualitative analysis found several prominent themes. The largest proportion of responses (23%) suggested that patients should follow instructions given by care providers. Other prominent themes were that patients should ask questions and become informed about their conditions and treatments, and many implied that they should expect competent care. Our results suggest that patients believe they should be able to trust that they are being provided competent care, as opposed to assuming a leadership role in their safety. Our results suggest that engaging patients in safety efforts may be complex, requiring a variety of strategies. Managers must provide environments conducive to staff and patient interactions to support patients in this effort. Different types of patients may require different engagement strategies.

[An approach to care indicators benchmarking. Learning to improve patient safety].

Science.gov (United States)

de Andrés Gimeno, B; Salazar de la Guerra, R M; Ferrer Arnedo, C; Revuelta Zamorano, M; Ayuso Murillo, D; González Soria, J

2014-01-01

Improvements in clinical safety can be achieved by promoting a safety culture, professional training, and learning through benchmarking. The aim of this study was to identify areas for improvement after analysing the safety indicators in two public Hospitals in North-West Madrid Region. Descriptive study performed during 2011 in Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro Majadahonda (HUPHM) and Hospital de Guadarrama (HG). The variables under study were 40 indicators on nursing care related to patient safety. Nineteen of them were defined in the SENECA project as care quality standards in order to improve patient safety in the hospitals. The data collected were clinical history, Madrid Health Service assessment reports, care procedures, and direct observation Within the 40 indicators: 22 of them were structured (procedures), HUPHM had 86%, and HG 95% 14 process indicators (training and protocols compliance) with similar results in both hospitals, apart from the care continuity reports and training in hand hygiene. The 4 results indicators (pressure ulcer, falls and pain) showed different results. The analysis of the indicators allowed the following actions to be taken: to identify improvements to be made in each hospital, to develop joint safety recommendations in nursing care protocols in prevention and treatment of chronic wound, to establish systematic pain assessments, and to prepare continuity care reports on all patients transferred from HUPHM to HG. Copyright © 2013 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Patient safety is not elective: a debate at the NPSF Patient Safety Congress.

Science.gov (United States)

McTiernan, Patricia; Wachter, Robert M; Meyer, Gregg S; Gandhi, Tejal K

2015-02-01

The opening keynote session of the 16th Annual National Patient Safety Foundation Patient Safety Congress, held 14-16 May 2014, featured a debate addressing the merits and challenges of accountability with respect to key issues in patient safety. The specific resolution debated was: Certain safety practices should be inviolable, and transgressions should result in penalties, potentially including fines, suspensions, and firing. The themes discussed in the debate are issues that healthcare professionals and leaders commonly struggle with in their day-to-day work. How do we draw a line between systems problems and personal failings? When should clinicians and staff be penalised for failing to follow a known safety protocol? The majority of those who listened to the live debate agreed that it is time to begin holding health professionals accountable when they wilfully or repeatedly violate policies or protocols put in place by their institutions to protect the safety of patients. This article summarises the debate as well as the questions and discussion generated by each side. A video of the original debate can be found at http://bit.ly/Npsf_debate. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Maximum tolerable radiation doses recommended by the Israel Advisory Committee on nuclear safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tadmor, J.; Litai, D.; Lubin, E.

1978-01-01

Maximum tolerable doses have been recommended by the Israel Advisory Committee on Nuclear Safety. The recommendations which are based on a comparison with risks tolerated in other human activities, are for doses to radiation workers, for individual members of the population at the fence of a nuclear installation, and for the population at large, for both normal operating and accident conditions. Tolerable whole-body doses and doses to different critical organs are listed

When Patients Write the Guidelines: Patient Panel Recommendations for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraenkel, Liana; Miller, Amy S; Clayton, Kelly; Crow-Hercher, Rachelle; Hazel, Shantana; Johnson, Britt; Rott, Leslie; White, Whitney; Wiedmeyer, Carole; Montori, Victor M; Singh, Jasvinder A; Nowell, W Benjamin

2016-01-01

How best to involve patients in the development of clinical practice guideline (CPG) recommendations is not known. We sought to determine the feasibility and value of developing CPG recommendations based on a voting panel composed entirely of patients, with the ultimate goal of comparing the patients' recommendations to ones developed by a physician-dominated voting panel on the same clinical questions. Ten patients with rheumatoid arthritis completed 8 hours of training on evidence-based medicine and guideline development. They constituted a voting panel and, with 2 American College of Rheumatology staff with expertise in CPG development and a physician facilitator, subsequently met at a face-to-face meeting to develop recommendations. They applied the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology to formulate recommendations on 18 questions for which there was evidence warranting moderate or high confidence. The patient panel developed recommendations for 16 of the 18 questions; for the other 2, the panel thought there were insufficient data to support a recommendation. For 13 of the 16 questions, the patient panel recommended the same course of action as did the physician-dominated panel. Differences were due to how the 2 panels valued the balance between benefits and harms. Patient and physician-dominated panels developed the same recommendations for most questions for which there was evidence warranting moderate to high confidence. Additional experiences are necessary to advance the evidence necessary to determine what panel composition is optimal to produce the best guidelines. © 2015, American College of Rheumatology.

Recommendations of the Reactor Safety Commission (RSK) 1975-1977. Vol. 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, M.

1978-08-01

After the recommendations are published in the 'Bundesanzeiger' the Office of the RSK publishes them as a closed report, by order of the Federal Minister of the Interior. The reports are devided in two parts: Part I contains the recommendations which are given by the RSK; part II contains the official notices concerning the RSK. There also is a subject index. Three volumes are published by now: Volume 1: IRS-A-9 (December 1975), Recommendations of the RSK 1971 to 1974 (68th to 96th meeting), pages: I-1 to I-116 and II-1 to II-23 appendix a: RSK-guide lines for PWR, edition 04.74; Volume 2: IRS-A-11 (August 1976), Recommendations of the RSK 1974 to 1975, (97th to 105th meeting), pages: I-117 to I-145; Volume 3: GRS-12 (August 1978), Recommendations of the RSK 1975 to 1977 (106th to 129th meeting), pages: I-146 to I-276 and II-24 to II-25. Volume 3 also contains the recommendation on German Fuel Cycle Center which was given by the Reactor Safety Commision (RSK) in community with the Radiological Protection Commission (SSK), in autumn 1977. (orig./HP) 891 HP [de

A multilevel model of patient safety culture: cross-level relationship between organizational culture and patient safety behavior in Taiwan's hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, I-Chi; Ng, Hui-Fuang; Li, Hung-Hui

2012-01-01

As health-care organizations endeavor to improve their quality of care, there is a growing recognition of the importance of establishing a culture of patient safety. The main objective of this study was to investigate the cross-level influences of organizational culture on patient safety behavior in Taiwan's hospitals. The authors measured organizational culture (bureaucratic, supportive and innovative culture), patient safety culture and behavior from 788 hospital workers among 42 hospitals in Taiwan. Multilevel analysis was applied to explore the relationship between organizational culture (group level) and patient safety behavior (individual level). Patient safety culture had positive impact on patient safety behavior in Taiwan's hospitals. The results also indicated that bureaucratic, innovative and supportive organizational cultures all had direct influence on patient safety behavior. However, only supportive culture demonstrated significant moderation effect on the relationship between patient safety culture and patient safety behavior. Furthermore, organizational culture strength was shown correlated negatively with patient safety culture variability. Overall, organizational culture plays an important role in patient safety activities. Safety behaviors of hospital staff are partly influenced by the prevailing cultural norms in their organizations and work groups. For management implications, constructed patient priority from management commitment to leadership is necessary. For academic implications, research on patient safety should consider leadership, group dynamics and organizational learning. These factors are important for understanding the barriers and the possibilities embedded in patient safety. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Strengthening leadership as a catalyst for enhanced patient safety culture: a repeated cross-sectional experimental study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kristensen, Solvejg; Christensen, Karl Bang; Jaquet, Annette; Møller Beck, Carsten; Sabroe, Svend; Bartels, Paul; Mainz, Jan

2016-05-13

Current literature emphasises that clinical leaders are in a position to enable a culture of safety, and that the safety culture is a performance mediator with the potential to influence patient outcomes. This paper aims to investigate staff's perceptions of patient safety culture in a Danish psychiatric department before and after a leadership intervention. A repeated cross-sectional experimental study by design was applied. In 2 surveys, healthcare staff were asked about their perceptions of the patient safety culture using the 7 patient safety culture dimensions in the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. To broaden knowledge and strengthen leadership skills, a multicomponent programme consisting of academic input, exercises, reflections and discussions, networking, and action learning was implemented among the clinical area level leaders. In total, 358 and 325 staff members participated before and after the intervention, respectively. 19 of the staff members were clinical area level leaders. In both surveys, the response rate was >75%. The proportion of frontline staff with positive attitudes improved by ≥5% for 5 of the 7 patient safety culture dimensions over time. 6 patient safety culture dimensions became more positive (increase in mean) (pculture are remarkable, and imply that strengthening the leadership can act as a significant catalyst for patient safety culture improvement. Further studies using a longitudinal study design are recommended to investigate the mechanism behind leadership's influence on patient safety culture, sustainability of improvements over time, and the association of change in the patient safety culture measures with change in psychiatric patient safety outcomes. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Patient safety culture in primary care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verbakel, N.J.

2015-01-01

Background A constructive patient safety culture is a main prerequisite for patient safety and improvement initiatives. Until now, patient safety culture (PSC) research was mainly focused on hospital care, however, it is of equal importance in primary care. Measuring PSC informs practices on their

Patient Involvement in Patient Safety: A Qualitative Study of Nursing Staff and Patient Perceptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Andrea C; Macdonald, Marilyn

2017-06-01

The risk associated with receiving health care has called for an increased focus on the role of patients in helping to improve safety. Recent research has highlighted that patient involvement in patient safety practices may be influenced by patient perceptions of patient safety practices and the perceptions of their health care providers. The objective of this research was to describe patient involvement in patient safety practices by exploring patient and nursing staff perceptions of safety. Qualitative focus groups were conducted with a convenience sample of nursing staff and patients who had previously completed a patient safety survey in 2 tertiary hospital sites in Eastern Canada. Six focus groups (June 2011 to January 2012) were conducted and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Four themes were identified: (1) wanting control, (2) feeling connected, (3) encountering roadblocks, and (4) sharing responsibility for safety. Both patient and nursing staff participants highlighted the importance of building a personal connection as a precursor to ensuring that patients are involved in their care and safety. However, perceptions of provider stress and nursing staff workload often reduced the ability of the nursing staff and patient participants to connect with one another and promote involvement. Current strategies aimed at increasing patient awareness of patient safety may not be enough. The findings suggest that providing the context for interaction to occur between nursing staff and patients as well as targeted interventions aimed at increasing patient control may be needed to ensure patient involvement in patient safety.

Role of effective nurse-patient relationships in enhancing patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Conroy, Tiffany; Feo, Rebecca; Boucaut, Rose; Alderman, Jan; Kitson, Alison

2017-08-02

Ensuring and maintaining patient safety is an essential aspect of care provision. Safety is a multidimensional concept, which incorporates interrelated elements such as physical and psychosocial safety. An effective nurse-patient relationship should ensure that these elements are considered when planning and providing care. This article discusses the importance of an effective nurse-patient relationship, as well as healthcare environments and working practices that promote safety, thus ensuring optimal patient care.

Perspective on safety case to support a possible site recommendation decision

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gil, A.V.; Gamble, R.P.

2002-01-01

The mission of the US Department of Energy (DOE) is to provide the basis for a national decision regarding the development of a geological repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. There are a number of steps in the decision process defined by US law that must be completed prior to development of a repository at this site. The DOE's focus is currently on the first two steps in this process: characterization of the site to support a determination by the DOE on whether the site is suitable for a geologic repository and a decision by the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) on whether to recommend to the President that the site be approved for a repository. To enhance the confidence of multiple audiences in the basis for these actions, and to provide a basis for subsequent action by the President and the US Congress, information supporting the decision process must include the elements of a safety case consistent with the statutory and regulatory framework for these decisions. The idea of a safety case is to broaden the basis for confidence by decision-makers and the public in conclusions about safety. A safety case should cite multiple lines of evidence, or reasoning, beyond the results of a safety assessment to support the demonstration of safety, which includes compliance with applicable safety criteria. The multiple lines of evidence should show the basis for confidence in safety. To be most effective, such evidence requires information not directly used in the safety assessment. (author)

Assessment of Contributions to Patient Safety Knowledge by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-Funded Patient Safety Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Sorbero, Melony E S; Ricci, Karen A; Lovejoy, Susan; Haviland, Amelia M; Smith, Linda; Bradley, Lily A; Hiatt, Liisa; Farley, Donna O

2009-01-01

Objective To characterize the activities of projects funded in Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)' patient safety portfolio and assess their aggregate potential to contribute to knowledge development. Data Sources Information abstracted from proposals for projects funded in AHRQ' patient safety portfolio, information on safety practices from the AHRQ Evidence Report on Patient Safety Practices, and products produced by the projects. Study Design This represented one part of the process evaluation conducted as part of a longitudinal evaluation based on the Context–Input–Process–Product model. Principal Findings The 234 projects funded through AHRQ' patient safety portfolio examined a wide variety of patient safety issues and extended their work beyond the hospital setting to less studied parts of the health care system. Many of the projects implemented and tested practices for which the patient safety evidence report identified a need for additional evidence. The funded projects also generated a substantial body of new patient safety knowledge through a growing number of journal articles and other products. Conclusions The projects funded in AHRQ' patient safety portfolio have the potential to make substantial contributions to the knowledge base on patient safety. The full value of this new knowledge remains to be confirmed through the synthesis of results. PMID:21456108

Patients for patient safety in China: a cross sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qiongwen; Li, Yulin; Li, Jing; Mao, Xuanyue; Zhang, Lijuan; Ying, Qinghua; Wei, Xin; Shang, Lili; Zhang, Mingming

2012-02-01

To investigate the baseline status of patients' awareness, knowledge, and attitudes to patient safety in China, and to determine the factors that influence patients' involvement in patient safety. We conducted a cross sectional survey using questionnaires adapted from recent studies on patient safety from outside China. The items included medical errors, infection, medication safety, and other aspects of patient safety. The questionnaire included 17 items and 5 domains. The survey was conducted between Jan. 2009 and Dec. 2010 involving 1000 patients from ten grade-A hospitals in seven provinces or cities in China. Most patients from the surgery departments completed the questionnaires voluntarily and anonymously. Five reviewers independently input the data into Microsoft Excel 2003, and the data were double-checked. Data were analyzed using SPSS 15.0 software for differences in the perceptions and attitudes of patients toward patient safety among different genders, ages, and regions. We distributed 1000 questionnaires and collected 959 completed questionnaires (response rate: 96%). Among the respondents, 58% of patients did not know what medical error is. Sixty-five percent of patients wanted disclosure of all medical errors. After errors occurred, 58% of patients wanted explanations of all possible harms that had resulted. Among 187 patients who had experienced medical errors, 83% of patients had sought appropriate legal action. About 52% of patients understood hospital infection, but 28% patients did not know that infections could occur in hospital. Seventy-eight percent of patients thought that medical staff should wash their hands before examining patients. More than half of the patients (68%) were willing to remind the staff of hygiene if they saw unsanitary conditions in a health clinic. Only 14% of patients knew the side effects of medications that they took. The majority of patients surveyed expressed willingness to contribute to patient safety, but their

Early fluid loading for septic patients: Any safety limit needed?

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Yi-Chun; Liu, Jing-Tao; Ma, Peng-Lin

2018-02-01

Early adequate fluid loading was the corner stone of hemodynamic optimization for sepsis and septic shock. Meanwhile, recent recommended protocol for fluid resuscitation was increasingly debated on hemodynamic stability vs risk of overloading. In recent publications, it was found that a priority was often given to hemodynamic stability rather than organ function alternation in the early fluid resuscitation of sepsis. However, no safety limits were used at all in most of these reports. In this article, the rationality and safety of early aggressive fluid loading for septic patients were discussed. It was concluded that early aggressive fluid loading improved hemodynamics transitorily, but was probably traded off with a follow-up organ function impairment, such as worsening oxygenation by reduction of lung aeration, in a part of septic patients at least. Thus, a safeguard is needed against unnecessary excessive fluids in early aggressive fluid loading for septic patients. Copyright © 2017 Daping Hospital and the Research Institute of Surgery of the Third Military Medical University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nursing Informatics Competencies Among Nursing Students and Their Relationship to Patient Safety Competencies: Knowledge, Attitude, and Skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdrbo, Amany Ahmed

2015-11-01

With implementation of information technology in healthcare settings to promote safety and evidence-based nursing care, a growing emphasis on the importance of nursing informatics competencies has emerged. This study assessed the relationship between nursing informatics and patient safety competencies among nursing students and nursing interns. A descriptive, cross-sectional correlational design with a convenience sample of 154 participants (99 nursing students and 55 interns) completed the Self-assessment of Nursing Informatics Competencies and Patient Safety Competencies. The nursing students and interns were similar in age and years of computer experience, and more than half of the participants in both groups had taken a nursing informatics course. There were no significant differences between competencies in nursing informatics and patient safety except for clinical informatics role and applied computer skills in the two groups of participants. Nursing informatics competencies and patient safety competencies were significantly correlated except for clinical informatics role both with patient safety knowledge and attitude. These results provided feedback to adjust and incorporate informatics competencies in the baccalaureate program and to recommend embracing the nursing informatics course as one of the core courses, not as an elective course, in the curriculum.

A simple intervention to improve patient safety, save time and improve staff experience in the AMU procedure room.

Science.gov (United States)

Misselbrook, Gary Peter; Kause, Juliane; Yeoh, Su-Ann

2016-01-01

Over the last decade, operating theatres and Intensive Care Units (ICUs) have established systematic methods for performing procedures on patients that have been shown to reduce complications and improve patient safety. Whilst the use of procedure rooms on Acute Medicine Units (AMUs) is highly recommended by patient safety groups and Royal College publications, they are not universally available or appropriately utilised. In this article we discuss a quality improvement project that was undertaken on an AMU at a large university teaching hospital in the United Kingdom, highlighting its successes and challenges.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards and recommendations on radioactive waste and transport safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warnecke, E.; Rawl, R.

1996-01-01

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) publishes standards and recommendations on all aspects of nuclear safety in its Safety Series, which includes radioactive waste management and transport of radioactive materials. Safety Series documents may be adopted by a State into its national legal framework. Most of the States used the IAEA transport regulations (Safety Series No. 6) as a basis for their national regulation. The two highest ranking documents of the Radioactive Waste Safety Standards (RADWASS) programme, the Safety Fundamentals and the Safety Standard on the national waste management system, have been published. Both provide impetus into the waste management safety convention, a legally binding document for signatory states, which is being drafted. The already existing Convention on Nuclear Safety covers the management of radioactive waste at land-based civil nuclear power plants. (author) 1 fig., 18 refs

International Review Team (IRT) Safety Case Recommendations for the Yucca Mountain Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA) Supporting the Site Recommendation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Luik, Abraham E.

2004-01-01

The session started with Abe Van Luik (IGSC Chair, US-DOE-YM, USA) who presented the feedback of the international peer review of the US-DOE Yucca Mountain TSPA (Total System Performance Assessment) supporting the successful designation of the site by the Congress and the President of the U.S. In particular, he listed key implications of the IRT (International Review team) recommendations on the forthcoming US-DOE documentation of its case for safety to be submitted to the regulator, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, mainly: - The documentation submitted to the licensing authority should address technical aspects and compliance with regulatory criteria. - That documentation should reflect sound science and good engineering practice; it should present detailed and rigorous modelling. - In addition, it should present both quantitative and qualitative arguments, make a statement on why there can be confidence in the face of uncertainty, acknowledge remaining issues and provide the strategy to resolve them. - Demonstrating understanding is as important as demonstrating compliance. - There is a need to provide a clear explanation of the case made to the regulator for more general audiences to complement the large amount of technical documents that will be produced. The US-DOE response to these recommendations for the License Application, which is under preparation, is that the recommendations will be implemented to the maximum extent possible. In subsequent discussion, with respect to the License Application, it was acknowledged that detailed guidance from the U.S. regulator was very useful, and guidance of this type would be generally useful. At the current time, the words 'safety case' are not mentioned in U.S. regulations, but if one reads both the regulation and guidance documents it becomes evident that all aspects of a safety case need to be provided in the License Application and its accompanying documents

Patient safety culture in Norwegian nursing homes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bondevik, Gunnar Tschudi; Hofoss, Dag; Husebø, Bettina Sandgathe; Deilkås, Ellen Catharina Tveter

2017-06-20

Patient safety culture concerns leader and staff interaction, attitudes, routines, awareness and practices that impinge on the risk of patient-adverse events. Due to their complex multiple diseases, nursing home patients are at particularly high risk of adverse events. Studies have found an association between patient safety culture and the risk of adverse events. This study aimed to investigate safety attitudes among healthcare providers in Norwegian nursing homes, using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire - Ambulatory Version (SAQ-AV). We studied whether variations in safety attitudes were related to professional background, age, work experience and mother tongue. In February 2016, 463 healthcare providers working in five nursing homes in Tønsberg, Norway, were invited to answer the SAQ-AV, translated and adapted to the Norwegian nursing home setting. Previous validation of the Norwegian SAQ-AV for nursing homes identified five patient safety factors: teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, working conditions and stress recognition. SPSS v.22 was used for statistical analysis, which included estimations of mean values, standard deviations and multiple linear regressions. P-values safety factors teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction and working conditions. Not being a Norwegian native speaker was associated with a significantly higher mean score for job satisfaction and a significantly lower mean score for stress recognition. Neither professional background nor work experience were significantly associated with mean scores for any patient safety factor. Patient safety factor scores in nursing homes were poorer than previously found in Norwegian general practices, but similar to findings in out-of-hours primary care clinics. Patient safety culture assessment may help nursing home leaders to initiate targeted quality improvement interventions. Further research should investigate associations between patient safety culture and the occurrence

Recommendations by the Spanish Society of Rheumatology for the management of patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis who cannot be treated with methotrexate.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Vicuña, Rosario; Martín-Martínez, María Auxiliadora; Gonzalez-Crespo, María Rosa; Tornero-Molina, Jesús; Fernández-Nebro, Antonio; Blanco-García, Francisco Javier; Blanco-Alonso, Ricardo; Marsal-Barril, Sara

To establish a set of recommendations for the management of patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who cannot be treated with methotrexate (MTX) due to contraindications, drug toxicity or lack of adherence, and to establish therapeutic strategies more effective and safer in these RA patients. A qualitative analysis of the scientific evidence available to June 2015. The 2-round Delphi technique of consensus was used to collect and establish expert opinion based on the participants' clinical experience when only low quality evidence was available. A total of eighteen recommendations were developed for the management of this patient profile. Fourteen of these recommendations were related to drug safety aspects. Recommendations on contraindication and toxicity of MTX have been updated. The experts recommend the use of biological monotherapy, a preferred treatment option, in patients whose profiles reveal a contraindication, intolerance or circumstances that prevent us against the use of MTX. There is some high-quality scientific evidence that supports contraindication and establishes certain conditions of MTX use in RA patients with specific clinical profiles. Copyright © 2016. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.

Patient safety culture in out-of-hours primary care services in the Netherlands: a cross-sectional survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Smits, Marleen; Keizer, Ellen; Giesen, Paul; Deilkås, Ellen Catharina Tveter; Hofoss, Dag; Bondevik, Gunnar Tschudi

2018-03-01

To examine patient safety culture in Dutch out-of-hours primary care using the safety attitudes questionnaire (SAQ) which includes five factors: teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, perceptions of management and communication openness. Cross-sectional observational study using an anonymous web-survey. Setting Sixteen out-of-hours general practitioner (GP) cooperatives and two call centers in the Netherlands. Subjects Primary healthcare providers in out-of-hours services. Main outcome measures Mean scores on patient safety culture factors; association between patient safety culture and profession, gender, age, and working experience. Overall response rate was 43%. A total of 784 respondents were included; mainly GPs (N = 470) and triage nurses (N = 189). The healthcare providers were most positive about teamwork climate and job satisfaction, and less about communication openness and safety climate. The largest variation between clinics was found on safety climate; the lowest on teamwork climate. Triage nurses scored significantly higher than GPs on each of the five patient safety factors. Older healthcare providers scored significantly higher than younger on safety climate and perceptions of management. More working experience was positively related to higher teamwork climate and communication openness. Gender was not associated with any of the patient safety factors. Our study showed that healthcare providers perceive patient safety culture in Dutch GP cooperatives positively, but there are differences related to the respondents' profession, age and working experience. Recommendations for future studies are to examine reasons for these differences, to examine the effects of interventions to improve safety culture and to make international comparisons of safety culture. Key Points Creating a positive patient safety culture is assumed to be a prerequisite for quality and safety. We found that: • healthcare providers in Dutch GP cooperatives

Do Physician Recommendations for Colorectal Cancer Screening Differ by Patient Age?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maida J Sewitch

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Colorectal cancer screening is underutilized, resulting in preventable morbidity and mortality. In the present study, age-related and other disparities associated with physicians’ delivery of colorectal cancer screening recommendations were examined. The present cross-sectional study included 43 physicians and 618 of their patients, aged 50 to 80 years, without past or present colorectal cancer. Of the 285 screen-eligible patients, 45% received a recommendation. Multivariate analyses revealed that, compared with younger nonde-pressed patients, older depressed patients were less likely to receive fecal occult blood test recommendations, compared with no recommendation (OR=0.31, 95% CI 0.09 to 1.02, as well as less likely to receive colonoscopy recommendations, compared with no recommendation (OR=0.14; 95% CI 0.03 to 0.66. Comorbidity and marital status were associated with delivery of fecal occult blood test and colonoscopy recommendations, respectively, compared with no recommendation. In summary, patient age and other characteristics appeared to influence physicians’ delivery of colorectal cancer screening and choice of modality.

National and international standards and recommendations on fire protection and fire safety assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berg, H.P.

2007-01-01

Experience feedback from events in nuclear facilities worldwide has shown that fire can represent a safety significant hazard. Thus, the primary objectives of fire protection programmes are to minimize both the probability of occurrence and the consequences of a fire. The regulator body expects that the licensees justify their arrangements for identifying how fires can occur and spread, assess the vulnerability of plant equipment and structures, determine how the safe operation of a plant is affected, and introduce measures to prevent a fire hazard from developing and propagating as well as to mitigate its effects in case the fire cannot be prevented. For that purpose usually a comprehensive regulatory framework for fire protection has been elaborated, based on national industrial regulations, nuclear specific regulations as well as international recommendations or requirements. Examples of such national and international standards and recommendations on fire protection and fire safety assessment as well as ongoing activities in this field are described. (orig.)

A region addresses patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Feinstein, Karen Wolk; Grunden, Naida; Harrison, Edward I

2002-06-01

The Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare Initiative (PRHI) is a coalition of 35 hospitals, 4 major insurers, more than 30 major and small-business health care purchasers, dozens of corporate and civic leaders, organized labor, and partnerships with state and federal government all working together to deliver perfect patient care throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. PRHI believes that in pursuing perfection, many of the challenges facing today's health care delivery system (eg, waste and error in the delivery of care, rising costs, frustration and shortage among clinicians and workers, financial distress, overcapacity, and lack of access to care) will be addressed. PRHI has identified patient safety (nosocomial infections and medication errors) and 5 clinical areas (obstetrics, orthopedic surgery, cardiac surgery, depression, and diabetes) as ideal starting points. In each of these areas of work, PRHI partners have assembled multifacility/multidisciplinary groups charged with defining perfection, establishing region-wide reporting systems, and devising and implementing recommended improvement strategies and interventions. Many design and conceptual elements of the PRHI strategy are adapted from the Toyota Production System and its Pittsburgh derivative, the Alcoa Business System. PRHI is in the proof-of-concept phase of development.

Patient safety culture assessment in oman.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Mandhari, Ahmed; Al-Zakwani, Ibrahim; Al-Kindi, Moosa; Tawilah, Jihane; Dorvlo, Atsu S S; Al-Adawi, Samir

2014-07-01

To illustrate the patient safety culture in Oman as gleaned via 12 indices of patient safety culture derived from the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSPSC) and to compare the average positive response rates in patient safety culture between Oman and the USA, Taiwan, and Lebanon. This was a cross-sectional research study employed to gauge the performance of HSPSC safety indices among health workers representing five secondary and tertiary care hospitals in the northern region of Oman. The participants (n=398) represented different professional designations of hospital staff. Analyses were performed using univariate statistics. The overall average positive response rate for the 12 patient safety culture dimensions of the HSPSC survey in Oman was 58%. The indices from HSPSC that were endorsed the highest included 'organizational learning and continuous improvement' while conversely, 'non-punitive response to errors' was ranked the least. There were no significant differences in average positive response rates between Oman and the United States (58% vs. 61%; p=0.666), Taiwan (58% vs. 64%; p=0.386), and Lebanon (58% vs. 61%; p=0.666). This study provides the first empirical study on patient safety culture in Oman which is similar to those rates reported elsewhere. It highlights the specific strengths and weaknesses which may stem from the specific milieu prevailing in Oman.

Patient Safety Culture Assessment in Oman

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Mandhari, Ahmed; Al-Zakwani, Ibrahim; Al-Kindi, Moosa; Tawilah, Jihane; Dorvlo, Atsu S.S.; Al-Adawi, Samir

2014-01-01

Objective To illustrate the patient safety culture in Oman as gleaned via 12 indices of patient safety culture derived from the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSPSC) and to compare the average positive response rates in patient safety culture between Oman and the USA, Taiwan, and Lebanon. Methods This was a cross-sectional research study employed to gauge the performance of HSPSC safety indices among health workers representing five secondary and tertiary care hospitals in the northern region of Oman. The participants (n=398) represented different professional designations of hospital staff. Analyses were performed using univariate statistics. Results The overall average positive response rate for the 12 patient safety culture dimensions of the HSPSC survey in Oman was 58%. The indices from HSPSC that were endorsed the highest included ‘organizational learning and continuous improvement’ while conversely, ‘non-punitive response to errors’ was ranked the least. There were no significant differences in average positive response rates between Oman and the United States (58% vs. 61%; p=0.666), Taiwan (58% vs. 64%; p=0.386), and Lebanon (58% vs. 61%; p=0.666). Conclusion This study provides the first empirical study on patient safety culture in Oman which is similar to those rates reported elsewhere. It highlights the specific strengths and weaknesses which may stem from the specific milieu prevailing in Oman. PMID:25170407

Building patient safety in intensive care nursing : Patient safety culture, team performance and simulation-based training

OpenAIRE

Ballangrud, Randi

2013-01-01

Aim: The overall aim of the thesis was to investigate patient safety culture, team performance and the use of simulation-based team training for building patient safety in intensive care nursing. Methods: Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. In Study I, 220 RNs from ten ICUs responded to a patient safety culture questionnaire analysed with statistics. Studies II-IV were based on an evaluation of a simulation-based team training programme. Studies II-III included 53 RNs from seven I...

The relationship between organizational leadership for safety and learning from patient safety events.

Science.gov (United States)

Ginsburg, Liane R; Chuang, You-Ta; Berta, Whitney Blair; Norton, Peter G; Ng, Peggy; Tregunno, Deborah; Richardson, Julia

2010-06-01

To examine the relationship between organizational leadership for patient safety and five types of learning from patient safety events (PSEs). Forty-nine general acute care hospitals in Ontario, Canada. A nonexperimental design using cross-sectional surveys of hospital patient safety officers (PSOs) and patient care managers (PCMs). PSOs provided data on organization-level learning from (a) minor events, (b) moderate events, (c) major near misses, (d) major event analysis, and (e) major event dissemination/communication. PCMs provided data on organizational leadership (formal and informal) for patient safety. Hospitals were the unit of analysis. Seemingly unrelated regression was used to examine the influence of formal and informal leadership for safety on the five types of learning from PSEs. The interaction between leadership and hospital size was also examined. Formal organizational leadership for patient safety is an important predictor of learning from minor, moderate, and major near-miss events, and major event dissemination. This relationship is significantly stronger for small hospitals (learning from safety events. Formal leadership support for safety is of particular importance in small organizations where the economic burden of safety programs is disproportionately large and formal leadership is closer to the front lines.

Online Patient-Provider E-cigarette Consultations: Perceptions of Safety and Harm.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown-Johnson, Cati G; Burbank, Andrea; Daza, Eric J; Wassmann, Arianna; Chieng, Amy; Rutledge, Geoffrey W; Prochaska, Judith J

2016-12-01

E-cigarettes are popular and unregulated. Patient-provider communications concerning e-cigarettes were characterized to identify patient concerns, provider advice and attitudes, and research needs. An observational study of online patient-provider communications was conducted January 2011-June 2015 from a network providing free medical advice, and analyzed July 2014-May 2016. Patient and provider themes, and provider attitudes toward e-cigarettes (positive, negative, or neutral) were coded qualitatively. Provider attitudes were analyzed with cumulative logit modeling to account for clustering. Patient satisfaction with provider responses was expressed via a Thank function. An increase in e-cigarette-related questions was observed over time. Patient questions (N=512) primarily concerned specific side effects and harms (34%); general safety (27%); e-cigarettes as quit aids (19%); comparison of e-cigarette harms relative to combusted tobacco (18%); use with pre-existing medical conditions (18%); and nicotine-free e-cigarettes (14%). Half of provider responses discussed e-cigarettes as a harm reduction option (48%); 26% discussed them as quit aids. Overall, 47% of providers' responses represented a negative attitude toward e-cigarettes; 33% were neutral (contradictory or non-committal); and 20% were positive. Attitudes did not differ statistically by medical specialty; provider responses positive toward e-cigarettes received significantly more Thanks. Examination of online patient-provider communications provides insight into consumer health experience with emerging alternative tobacco products. Patient concerns largely related to harms and safety, and patients preferred provider responses positively inclined toward e-cigarettes. Lacking conclusive evidence of e-cigarette safety or efficacy, healthcare providers encouraged smoking cessation and recommended first-line cessation treatment approaches. Copyright © 2016 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by

Quarterly report on Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 90-7 for the period ending December 31, 1991

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cash, R.J.; Dukelow, G.T.; Atwood, J.M.

1992-01-01

This quarterly report provides a status of the activities underway at the Hanford Site on the ferrocyanide safety issues as requested by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) in their Recommendation 90-7 (FR 1990). In March 1991, an DNFSB Implementation Plan (Cash 1991a) was prepared and sent to the DNFSB responding to the six parts of Recommendation 90-7. All of the activities in the DNFSB Implementation Plan are underway and the status of each is described

John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety Awards. System innovation: Veterans Health Administration National Center for Patient Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Heget, Jeffrey R; Bagian, James P; Lee, Caryl Z; Gosbee, John W

2002-12-01

In 1998 the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) created the National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) to lead the effort to reduce adverse events and close calls systemwide. NCPS's aim is to foster a culture of safety in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by developing and providing patient safety programs and delivering standardized tools, methods, and initiatives to the 163 VA facilities. To create a system-oriented approach to patient safety, NCPS looked for models in fields such as aviation, nuclear power, human factors, and safety engineering. Core concepts included a non-punitive approach to patient safety activities that emphasizes systems-based learning, the active seeking out of close calls, which are viewed as opportunities for learning and investigation, and the use of interdisciplinary teams to investigate close calls and adverse events through a root cause analysis (RCA) process. Participation by VA facilities and networks was voluntary. NCPS has always aimed to develop a program that would be applicable both within the VA and beyond. NCPS's full patient safety program was tested and implemented throughout the VA system from November 1999 to August 2000. Program components included an RCA system for use by caregivers at the front line, a system for the aggregate review of RCA results, information systems software, alerts and advisories, and cognitive acids. Following program implementation, NCPS saw a 900-fold increase in reporting of close calls of high-priority events, reflecting the level of commitment to the program by VHA leaders and staff.

Involving patients in patient safety programmes: A scoping review and consensus procedure by the LINNEAUS collaboration on patient safety in primary care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Trier, H.; Valderas, J.M.; Wensing, M.; Martin, H.M.; Egebart, J.

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Patient involvement has only recently received attention as a potentially useful approach to patient safety in primary care. OBJECTIVE: To summarize work conducted on a scoping review of interventions focussing on patient involvement for patient safety; to develop consensus-based

Dietary Quality and Adherence to Dietary Recommendations in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Luis, Desiree; Zlatkis, Karyn; Comenge, Beatriz; García, Zoraida; Navarro, Juan F; Lorenzo, Victor; Carrero, Juan Jesús

2016-05-01

The multiple dietary restrictions recommended to hemodialysis patients may be difficult to achieve and, at the same time, may result in nutritional deficiencies rendering a poor dietary quality. We here assess the dietary quality and adherence to renal-specific guideline recommendations among hemodialysis patients from a single center in Canary Islands, Spain. Cross-sectional study, including 91 patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. Clinical data and 3-day dietary records were collected. We compared patient's reported nutrients intake with guideline recommendations. We also evaluated their alignment with current American Heart Association dietary guidelines for cardiovascular prevention. Seventy-seven percent and 50% of patients consumed less than the recommended daily energy and protein, respectively. Although half of the patients met the recommendations for dietary fat intake, this was accounted by an excess of saturated fat in 92% of them. Only 22% consumed sufficient fiber. A very small proportion of patients (less than 50%) met the requirements for vitamins and other micronutrients. Insufficient dietary intake was observed in most patients for all vitamins except for cobalamin. Similarly, inadequate dietary intake was observed for many minerals, by both excess (phosphorus, calcium, sodium, and potassium) and defect (magnesium). Most patients met the recommendations for iron and zinc in their diets. A large proportion of hemodialysis patients at our center did not meet current renal-specific dietary recommendations. The quality of the diet was considered poor and proatherogenic according to American Heart Association guidelines. Copyright © 2016 National Kidney Foundation, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mining the preferences of patients for ubiquitous clinic recommendation.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Tin-Chih Toly; Chiu, Min-Chi

2018-03-06

A challenge facing all ubiquitous clinic recommendation systems is that patients often have difficulty articulating their requirements. To overcome this problem, a ubiquitous clinic recommendation mechanism was designed in this study by mining the clinic preferences of patients. Their preferences were defined using the weights in the ubiquitous clinic recommendation mechanism. An integer nonlinear programming problem was solved to tune the values of the weights on a rolling basis. In addition, since it may take a long time to adjust the values of weights to their asymptotic values, the back propagation network (BPN)-response surface method (RSM) method is applied to estimate the asymptotic values of weights. The proposed methodology was tested in a regional study. Experimental results indicated that the ubiquitous clinic recommendation system outperformed several existing methods in improving the successful recommendation rate.

Implementing Patient Safety Initiatives in Rural Hospitals

Science.gov (United States)

Klingner, Jill; Moscovice, Ira; Tupper, Judith; Coburn, Andrew; Wakefield, Mary

2009-01-01

Implementation of patient safety initiatives can be costly in time and energy. Because of small volumes and limited resources, rural hospitals often are not included in nationally driven patient safety initiatives. This article describes the Tennessee Rural Hospital Patient Safety Demonstration project, whose goal was to strengthen capacity for…

Recommendations to Improve the Implementation Compliance of Surgical Safety Checklist in Surgery Rooms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana Sandrawati

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Surgical Safety Checklist has been adopted in surgery room as a tool to improve safe surgery. Its implementation during 2012 was low (33.9% so was the completeness of filling it (57.3%. Objective: To increase the implementation of Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC through analyzing the effect of policy, procedures, patient safety culture, and individual factors on compliance SSC implementation in the surgery room. Methods: Cross-sectional study with descriptive observational approach was done to find influencing factors of health care personnels’ compliance to fill SSC. Sample consisted of all surgery room nurses (45 nurses, 10 surgeons and 4 anesthesists. Data collection was made use of questionnaires, surgical medical records and SSC form. Results:The compliance to fill SSC in April 2013 was still low (55.9%. Written policy on patient safety was absent and awareness of respondents about the procedure was low. Respondents’ assessment showed that patient safety culture in surgery room was good, except management and stress recognition dimensions. Likewise, the respondents’ knowledge about SSC was low (61.0%. Conclusion: The study conclude that influencing factors of compliance implementation SSC is absence of the written policy in patient safety, lack of socialization of Standar Prosedur Operasional to health care personnels, lack of knowledge about SSC, lack awareness about the importance of SSC, shortage of surgery room nurses, and innappropriate perception about filling SSC as workload. Recomendation:The study will be making of written policy in patient safety and SSC, followed by socialization to health care personnels, training about SSC implementation, empowering and advocating surgery room nurses and use of reminders.

Optimizing Quality of Care and Patient Safety in Malaysia: The Current Global Initiatives, Gaps and Suggested Solutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Jarrar, Mu'taman; Abdul Rahman, Hamzah; Don, Mohammad Sobri

2015-10-20

Demand for health care service has significantly increased, while the quality of healthcare and patient safety has become national and international priorities. This paper aims to identify the gaps and the current initiatives for optimizing the quality of care and patient safety in Malaysia. Review of the current literature. Highly cited articles were used as the basis to retrieve and review the current initiatives for optimizing the quality of care and patient safety. The country health plan of Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia and the MOH Malaysia Annual Reports were reviewed. The MOH has set four strategies for optimizing quality and sustaining quality of life. The 10th Malaysia Health Plan promotes the theme "1 Care for 1 Malaysia" in order to sustain the quality of care. Despite of these efforts, the total number of complaints received by the medico-legal section of the MOH Malaysia is increasing. The current global initiatives indicted that quality performance generally belong to three main categories: patient; staffing; and working environment related factors. There is no single intervention for optimizing quality of care to maintain patient safety. Multidimensional efforts and interventions are recommended in order to optimize the quality of care and patient safety in Malaysia.

Optimizing Quality of Care and Patient Safety in Malaysia: The Current Global Initiatives, Gaps and Suggested Solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Jarrar, Mu’taman; Rahman, Hamzah Abdul; Don, Mohammad Sobri

2016-01-01

Background and Objective: Demand for health care service has significantly increased, while the quality of healthcare and patient safety has become national and international priorities. This paper aims to identify the gaps and the current initiatives for optimizing the quality of care and patient safety in Malaysia. Design: Review of the current literature. Highly cited articles were used as the basis to retrieve and review the current initiatives for optimizing the quality of care and patient safety. The country health plan of Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia and the MOH Malaysia Annual Reports were reviewed. Results: The MOH has set four strategies for optimizing quality and sustaining quality of life. The 10th Malaysia Health Plan promotes the theme “1 Care for 1 Malaysia” in order to sustain the quality of care. Despite of these efforts, the total number of complaints received by the medico-legal section of the MOH Malaysia is increasing. The current global initiatives indicted that quality performance generally belong to three main categories: patient; staffing; and working environment related factors. Conclusions: There is no single intervention for optimizing quality of care to maintain patient safety. Multidimensional efforts and interventions are recommended in order to optimize the quality of care and patient safety in Malaysia. PMID:26755459

Physical Activity Recommendations in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hartman, Jorine E.; Boezen, H. Marike; Zuidema, Menno J.; de Greef, Mathieu H. G.; ten Hacken, Nick H. T.; Boezen, Hendrika

2014-01-01

Background: Physical activity recommendations are hardly studied in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and specifically recommendations that are individualized to a patient's aerobic fitness level are not studied. Objectives: To compare individualized (relative) and

Michigan Health & Hospital Association Keystone Obstetrics: a statewide collaborative for perinatal patient safety in Michigan.

Science.gov (United States)

Simpson, Kathleen Rice; Knox, G Eric; Martin, Morgan; George, Chris; Watson, Sam R

2011-12-01

Preventable harm to mothers and infants during labor and birth is a significant patient safety and professional liability issue. A Michigan Health & Hospital Association Keystone Center for Patient Safety & Quality Obstetric Collaborative Project involved perinatal teams from 15 Michigan hospitals during an 11-month period in 2009. The purpose of the project was to promote safe care practices during labor and birth using the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP). Consistent with the CUSP model, this project's components included assessing and promoting a culture of safety; interdisciplinary team building; case review; learning from defects through multiple methods of education; team and individual coaching and peer encouragement; administrative support for the establishment of a fundamental safety infrastructure; and ongoing evaluation of care processes and outcomes. Study measures included 32 components of a perinatal patient infrastructure, 6 care processes during labor and birth, and 4 neonatal outcomes. Significant improvements were found in the safety culture (Safety Attitudes Questionnaire), the perinatal patient safety infrastructure components, and all care processes. Although the project was successful, getting buy-in from all members of the clinical team in each hospital for all of the measures was challenging at times. There was initial resistance to some of the measures and their various expected aspects of care. For example, some of the clinicians were initially reluctant to adopt the recommended standardized oxytocin protocol. Peer encouragement and unit-based feedback on progress in minimizing early elective births proved useful in many hospitals. A CUSP in obstetrics can be beneficial in improving the care of mothers and infants during labor and birth.

Evaluation of Patient Safety Culture and Organizational Culture as a Step in Patient Safety Improvement in a Hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afrisya Iriviranty

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Establishment of patient safety culture is the first step in the improvement of patient safety. As such, assessment of patient safety culture in hospitals is of paramount importance. Patient safety culture is an inherent component of organizational culture, so that the study of organizational culture is required in developing patient safety. This study aimed to evaluate patient safety culture among the clinical staff of a hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia and identify organizational culture profile. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive, qualitative study was conducted in a hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2014. Sample population consisted of nurses, midwives, physicians, pediatricians, obstetrics and gynecology specialists, laboratory personnel, and pharmacy staff (n=152. Data were collected using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ and Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI. Results: Teamwork within units” was the strongest dimension of patient safety culture (91.7%, while “staffing” and “non-punitive response to error” were the weakest dimensions (22.7%. Moreover, clan culture was the most dominant type of organizational culture in the studied hospital. This culture serves as a guide for the changes in the healthcare organization, especially in the development of patient safety culture. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, healthcare providers were positively inclined toward the patient safety culture within the organization. As such, the action plan was designed through consensus decision-making and deemed effective in articulating patient safety in the vision and mission of the organization.

Recommended safety objectives, principles and requirements for mini-reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-05-01

Canadian and international publications containing objectives, principles and requirements for the safety of nuclear facilities in general and nuclear power plants in particular have been reviewed for their relevance to mini-reactors. Most of the individual recommendations, sometimes with minor wording changes, are applicable to mini-reactors. However, some prescriptive requirements for the shutdown, emergency core cooling and containment systems of power reactors are considered inappropriate for mini-reactors. The Advisory Committee on Nuclear Safety favours a generally non-prescriptive approach whereby the applicant for a mini-reactor license is free to propose any means of satisfying the fundamental objectives, but must convince the regulatory agency to that effect. To do so, a probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) would be the favoured procedure. A generic PSA for all mini-reactors of the same design would be acceptable. Notwithstanding this non-prescriptive approach, the ACNS considers that it would be prudent to require the existence of at least one independent shutdown system and two physically independent locations from which the reactor can be shut down and the shutdown condition monitored, and to require provision for an assumed loss of integrity of the primary cooling system's boundary unless convincing arguments to the contrary are presented. The ACNS endorses in general the objectives and fundamental principles proposed by the interorganizational Small Reactor Criteria working group, and intends to review and comment on the documents on specific applications to be issued by that working group

Leadership, safety climate, and continuous quality improvement: impact on process quality and patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

McFadden, Kathleen L; Stock, Gregory N; Gowen, Charles R

2014-10-01

Successful amelioration of medical errors represents a significant problem in the health care industry. There is a need for greater understanding of the factors that lead to improved process quality and patient safety outcomes in hospitals. We present a research model that shows how transformational leadership, safety climate, and continuous quality improvement (CQI) initiatives are related to objective quality and patient safety outcome measures. The proposed framework is tested using structural equation modeling, based on data collected for 204 hospitals, and supplemented with objective outcome data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The results provide empirical evidence that a safety climate, which is connected to the chief executive officer's transformational leadership style, is related to CQI initiatives, which are linked to improved process quality. A unique finding of this study is that, although CQI initiatives are positively associated with improved process quality, they are also associated with higher hospital-acquired condition rates, a measure of patient safety. Likewise, safety climate is directly related to improved patient safety outcomes. The notion that patient safety climate and CQI initiatives are not interchangeable or universally beneficial is an important contribution to the literature. The results confirm the importance of using CQI to effectively enhance process quality in hospitals, and patient safety climate to improve patient safety outcomes. The overall pattern of findings suggests that simultaneous implementation of CQI initiatives and patient safety climate produces greater combined benefits.

Managing patient safety through NPSGs and employee performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Adair, Liberty

2010-01-01

Patient safety can only exist in a culture of patient safety, which implies it is a value perceived by all. Culture predicts safety outcomes and leadership predicts the culture. Leaders are obligated to continually mitigate hazard and take action consciously. Healthcare workers should focus on preventing and reporting mistakes with the National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) in mind. These include: accuracy of patient identification, effectiveness of communication among caregivers, improving safety of medications, reducing infections, reducing risk of falls, and encouraging patients to be involved in care. Poor performers and reckless behavior need to be mitigated. If employees recognize their roles in the process, feel empowered,and have appropriate tools, resources,and data to implement solutions, errors can be avoided and patient safety becomes paramount.

Laboratory test requesting appropriateness and patient safety

CERN Document Server

Blasco, Álvaro; Carratalá, Arturo; Lopez-Garrígos, Maite; Rodriguez-Borja, Enrique

2016-01-01

Patient Safety emphasizes the reporting, analysis and prevention of medical errors that very often leads to adverse healthcare situations.1 in 10 patients are impacted by medical errors.The WHO calls the patient safety issue an endemic concern. A number of well-known experts of all areas in the medical field have collectedvery valuable information for a better patient treatment and higher safety culture in all medical disciplines.

Health Sector Reform in the Kurdistan Region - Iraq: Financing Reform, Primary Care, and Patient Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Anthony, C Ross; Moore, Melinda; Hilborne, Lee H; Mulcahy, Andrew W

2014-12-30

In 2010, the Kurdistan Regional Government asked the RAND Corporation to help guide reform of the health care system in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The overarching goal of reform was to help establish a health system that would provide high-quality services efficiently to everyone to prevent, treat, and manage physical and mental illnesses and injuries. This article summarizes the second phase of RAND's work, when researchers analyzed three distinct but intertwined health policy issue areas: development of financing policy, implementation of early primary care recommendations, and evaluation of quality and patient safety. For health financing, the researchers reviewed the relevant literature, explored the issue in discussions with key stakeholders, developed and assessed various policy options, and developed plans or approaches to overcome barriers and achieve stated policy objectives. In the area of primary care, they developed and helped to implement a new management information system. In the area of quality and patient safety, they reviewed relevant literature, discussed issues and options with health leaders, and recommended an approach toward incremental implementation.

New Insulin Delivery Recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Frid, Anders H; Kreugel, Gillian; Grassi, Giorgio; Halimi, Serge; Hicks, Debbie; Hirsch, Laurence J; Smith, Mike J; Wellhoener, Regine; Bode, Bruce W; Hirsch, Irl B; Kalra, Sanjay; Ji, Linong; Strauss, Kenneth W

2016-09-01

Many primary care professionals manage injection or infusion therapies in patients with diabetes. Few published guidelines have been available to help such professionals and their patients manage these therapies. Herein, we present new, practical, and comprehensive recommendations for diabetes injections and infusions. These recommendations were informed by a large international survey of current practice and were written and vetted by 183 diabetes experts from 54 countries at the Forum for Injection Technique and Therapy: Expert Recommendations (FITTER) workshop held in Rome, Italy, in 2015. Recommendations are organized around the themes of anatomy, physiology, pathology, psychology, and technology. Key among the recommendations are that the shortest needles (currently the 4-mm pen and 6-mm syringe needles) are safe, effective, and less painful and should be the first-line choice in all patient categories; intramuscular injections should be avoided, especially with long-acting insulins, because severe hypoglycemia may result; lipohypertrophy is a frequent complication of therapy that distorts insulin absorption, and, therefore, injections and infusions should not be given into these lesions and correct site rotation will help prevent them; effective long-term therapy with insulin is critically dependent on addressing psychological hurdles upstream, even before insulin has been started; inappropriate disposal of used sharps poses a risk of infection with blood-borne pathogens; and mitigation is possible with proper training, effective disposal strategies, and the use of safety devices. Adherence to these new recommendations should lead to more effective therapies, improved outcomes, and lower costs for patients with diabetes. Copyright © 2016 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

78 FR 17212 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From Universal Safety Solution PSO

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-20

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety... Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS. ACTION: Notice of delisting. SUMMARY: The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act), Public Law 109-41, 42 U.S.C. 299b-21--b-26, provides for the...

The Danish patient safety experience: the Act on Patient Safety in the Danish Health care system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundgaard, Mette; Rabøl, Louise; Jensen, Elisabeth Agnete Brøgger

2005-01-01

This paper describes the process that lead to the passing of the Act for Patient Safety in the Danisk health care sytem, the contents of the act and how the act is used in the Danish health care system. The act obligates frontline health care personnel to report adverse events, hospital owners...... to act on the reports and the National Board of Health to commuicate the learning nationally. The act protects health care providers from sanctions as a result of reporting. In January 2004, the Act on Patient Safety in the Danish health care system was put into force. In the first twelve months 5740...... adverse events were reported. the reports were analyzed locally (hospital and region), anonymized ad then sent to the National Board af Health. The Act on Patient Safety has driven the work with patient safety forward but there is room for improvement. Continuous and improved feedback from all parts...

Patients' evaluations of patient safety in English general practices: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ricci-Cabello, Ignacio; Marsden, Kate S; Avery, Anthony J; Bell, Brian G; Kadam, Umesh T; Reeves, David; Slight, Sarah P; Perryman, Katherine; Barnett, Jane; Litchfield, Ian; Thomas, Sally; Campbell, Stephen M; Doos, Lucy; Esmail, Aneez; Valderas, Jose M

2017-07-01

Description of safety problems and harm in general practices has previously relied on information from health professionals, with scarce attention paid to experiences of patients. To examine patient-reported experiences and outcomes of patient safety in primary care. Cross-sectional study in 45 general practices across five regions in the north, centre, and south of England. A version of the Patient Reported Experiences and Outcomes of Safety in Primary Care (PREOS-PC) questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 6736 patients. Main outcome measures included 'practice activation' (what a practice does to create a safe environment); 'patient activation' (how proactive are patients in ensuring safe healthcare delivery); 'experiences of safety events' (safety errors); 'outcomes of safety' (harm); and 'overall perception of safety' (how safe patients rate their practice). Questionnaires were returned by 1244 patients (18.4%). Scores were high for 'practice activation' (mean [standard error] = 80.4 out of 100 [2.0]) and low for 'patient activation' (26.3 out of 100 [2.6]). Of the patients, 45% reported experiencing at least one safety problem in the previous 12 months, mostly related to appointments (33%), diagnosis (17%), patient provider communication (15%), and coordination between providers (14%). Twenty-three per cent of the responders reported some degree of harm in the previous 12 months. The overall assessment of level of safety of practices was generally high (86.0 out of 100 [16.8]). Priority areas for patient safety improvement in general practices in England include appointments, diagnosis, communication, coordination, and patient activation. © British Journal of General Practice 2017.

Applying importance-performance analysis to patient safety culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Yii-Ching; Wu, Hsin-Hung; Hsieh, Wan-Lin; Weng, Shao-Jen; Hsieh, Liang-Po; Huang, Chih-Hsuan

2015-01-01

The Sexton et al.'s (2006) safety attitudes questionnaire (SAQ) has been widely used to assess staff's attitudes towards patient safety in healthcare organizations. However, to date there have been few studies that discuss the perceptions of patient safety both from hospital staff and upper management. The purpose of this paper is to improve and to develop better strategies regarding patient safety in healthcare organizations. The Chinese version of SAQ based on the Taiwan Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation is used to evaluate the perceptions of hospital staff. The current study then lies in applying importance-performance analysis technique to identify the major strengths and weaknesses of the safety culture. The results show that teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, stress recognition and working conditions are major strengths and should be maintained in order to provide a better patient safety culture. On the contrary, perceptions of management and hospital handoffs and transitions are important weaknesses and should be improved immediately. Research limitations/implications - The research is restricted in generalizability. The assessment of hospital staff in patient safety culture is physicians and registered nurses. It would be interesting to further evaluate other staff's (e.g. technicians, pharmacists and others) opinions regarding patient safety culture in the hospital. Few studies have clearly evaluated the perceptions of healthcare organization management regarding patient safety culture. Healthcare managers enable to take more effective actions to improve the level of patient safety by investigating key characteristics (either strengths or weaknesses) that healthcare organizations should focus on.

Partnering With a Medical Malpractice Insurer to Improve Patient Safety and Decrease Risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Keohane, Carol A; Dwyer, Kathy; Boulanger, Jason; Zigmont, Katherine; Babayan, Astrid; Cushing, Elizabeth; Walsh, Brian

Implementing evolving science into clinical practice remains challenging. Assimilating new scientific evidence into clinical protocols and best practice recommendations, in a timely manner, can be difficult. In this article, we examine the value of partnering with a captive medical malpractice insurance company and its Patient Safety Organization to use data and convening opportunities to build upon the principles of implementation science and foster efficient and widespread adoption of the most current evidence-based interventions. Analyses of medical malpractice and root-cause analysis data set the context for this partnership and acted as a catalyst for creating best practice guidelines for adopting therapeutic hypothermia in the treatment of neonatal encephalopathy. What follows is a powerful example of successfully leveraging the collective wisdom of healthcare providers across specialties and institutional lines to move patient safety forward while managing risk.

Emotional influences in patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Croskerry, Pat; Abbass, Allan; Wu, Albert W

2010-12-01

The way that health care providers feel, both within themselves and toward their patients, may influence their clinical performance and impact patient safety, yet this aspect of provider behavior has received relatively little attention. How providers feel, their emotional or affective state, may exert a significant, unintended influence on their patients, and may compromise safety. We examined a broad literature across multiple disciplines to review the interrelationships between emotion, decision making, and behavior, and to assess their potential impact on patient safety. There is abundant evidence that the emotional state of the health care provider may be influenced by factors including characteristics of the patient, ambient conditions in the health care setting, diurnal, circadian, infradian, and seasonal variables, as well as endogenous disorders of the individual provider. These influences may lead to affective biases in decision making, resulting in errors and adverse events. Clinical reasoning and judgment may be particularly susceptible to emotional influence, especially those processes that rely on intuitive judgments. There are many ways that the emotional state of the health care provider can influence patient care. To reduce emotional errors, the level of awareness of these factors should be raised. Emotional skills training should be incorporated into the education of health care professionals. Specifically, clinical teaching should promote more openness and discussion about the provider's feelings toward patients. Strategies should be developed to help providers identify and de-bias themselves against emotional influences that may impact care, particularly in the emotionally evocative patient. Psychiatric conditions within the provider, which may compromise patient safety, need to be promptly detected, diagnosed, and managed.

Are we failing to communicate? Internet-based patient education materials and radiation safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansberry, David R.; Ramchand, Tekchand; Patel, Shyam; Kraus, Carl; Jung, Jin; Agarwal, Nitin; Gonzales, Sharon F.; Baker, Stephen R.

2014-01-01

Introduction: Patients frequently turn to the Internet when seeking answers to healthcare related inquiries including questions about the effects of radiation when undergoing radiologic studies. We investigate the readability of online patient education materials concerning radiation safety from multiple Internet resources. Methods: Patient education material regarding radiation safety was downloaded from 8 different websites encompassing: (1) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (2) the Environmental Protection Agency, (3) the European Society of Radiology, (4) the Food and Drug Administration, (5) the Mayo Clinic, (6) MedlinePlus, (7) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and (8) the Society of Pediatric Radiology. From these 8 resources, a total of 45 articles were analyzed for their level of readability using 10 different readability scales. Results: The 45 articles had a level of readability ranging from 9.4 to the 17.2 grade level. Only 3/45 (6.7%) were written below the 10th grade level. No statistical difference was seen between the readability level of the 8 different websites. Conclusions: All 45 articles from all 8 websites failed to meet the recommendations set forth by the National Institutes of Health and American Medical Association that patient education resources be written between the 3rd and 7th grade level. Rewriting the patient education resources on radiation safety from each of these 8 websites would help many consumers of healthcare information adequately comprehend such material

Are we failing to communicate? Internet-based patient education materials and radiation safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansberry, David R., E-mail: hansbedr@njms.rutgers.edu; Ramchand, Tekchand, E-mail: ramchate@njms.rutgers.edu; Patel, Shyam, E-mail: patel288@njms.rutgers.edu; Kraus, Carl, E-mail: krauscf@njms.rutgers.edu; Jung, Jin, E-mail: jungjk@njms.rutgers.edu; Agarwal, Nitin, E-mail: nitin.agarwal@rutgers.edu; Gonzales, Sharon F., E-mail: gonzalsh@njms.rutgers.edu; Baker, Stephen R., E-mail: bakersr@njms.rutgers.edu

2014-09-15

Introduction: Patients frequently turn to the Internet when seeking answers to healthcare related inquiries including questions about the effects of radiation when undergoing radiologic studies. We investigate the readability of online patient education materials concerning radiation safety from multiple Internet resources. Methods: Patient education material regarding radiation safety was downloaded from 8 different websites encompassing: (1) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (2) the Environmental Protection Agency, (3) the European Society of Radiology, (4) the Food and Drug Administration, (5) the Mayo Clinic, (6) MedlinePlus, (7) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and (8) the Society of Pediatric Radiology. From these 8 resources, a total of 45 articles were analyzed for their level of readability using 10 different readability scales. Results: The 45 articles had a level of readability ranging from 9.4 to the 17.2 grade level. Only 3/45 (6.7%) were written below the 10th grade level. No statistical difference was seen between the readability level of the 8 different websites. Conclusions: All 45 articles from all 8 websites failed to meet the recommendations set forth by the National Institutes of Health and American Medical Association that patient education resources be written between the 3rd and 7th grade level. Rewriting the patient education resources on radiation safety from each of these 8 websites would help many consumers of healthcare information adequately comprehend such material.

[Operating Room Nurses' Experiences of Securing for Patient Safety].

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Kwang Ok; Kim, Jong Kyung; Kim, Myoung Sook

2015-10-01

This study was done to evaluate the experience of securing patient safety in hospital operating rooms. Experiential data were collected from 15 operating room nurses through in-depth interviews. The main question was "Could you describe your experience with patient safety in the operating room?". Qualitative data from the field and transcribed notes were analyzed using Strauss and Corbin's grounded theory methodology. The core category of experience with patient safety in the operating room was 'trying to maintain principles of patient safety during high-risk surgical procedures'. The participants used two interactional strategies: 'attempt continuous improvement', 'immersion in operation with sharing issues of patient safety'. The results indicate that the important factors for ensuring the safety of patients in the operating room are manpower, education, and a system for patient safety. Successful and safe surgery requires communication, teamwork and recognition of the importance of patient safety by the surgical team.

Efficacy and safety of febuxostat in elderly female patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mizuno T

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Tomohiro Mizuno,1,2 Takahiro Hayashi,3 Sayo Hikosaka,1 Yuka Shimabukuro,1 Maho Murase,1 Kazuo Takahashi,2 Hiroki Hayashi,2 Yukio Yuzawa,2 Tadashi Nagamatsu,1 Shigeki Yamada3 1Department of Analytical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmacy, Meijo University, Nagoya, Japan; 2Department of Nephrology, School of Medicine, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan; 3Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Medicine, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan Background: Maintenance of low serum urate levels is important for the management of gout. Achieving the recommended serum urate levels of less than 6.0 mg/dL is difficult in elderly (65 years of age or older patients with renal impairment. Xanthine oxidase inhibitors allopurinol and febuxostat are used for this purpose. Although febuxostat had been shown to be efficacious in elderly patients, its safety and efficacy in elderly female patients with hyper­uricemia remain unclear.Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of febuxostat in elderly female patients.Methods: We studied a retrospective cohort study. The study included elderly Japanese patients (65 years of age or older who were treated with febuxostat at Fujita Health University Hospital from January 2012 to December 2013. The treatment goal was defined as achievement of serum urate levels of 6.0 mg/dL or lower within 16 weeks; this was the primary endpoint in the present study. Adverse events of febuxostat were defined as more than twofold increases in Common Terminology Criteria for adverse events scores from baseline. Results: We evaluated 82 patients treated with febuxostat during the observation period and classified them into male (n=53 and female (n=29 groups. The mean time to achievement of the treatment goal was significantly shorter in the female group (53 days than in the male group (71 days. There were no significant differences in adverse events between the 2 groups.Conclusion: Our

Culture matters: indigenizing patient safety in Bhutan.

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Pelzang, Rinchen; Johnstone, Megan-Jane; Hutchinson, Alison M

2017-09-01

Studies show that if quality of healthcare in a country is to be achieved, due consideration must be given to the importance of the core cultural values as a critical factor in improving patient safety outcomes. The influence of Bhutan's traditional (core) cultural values on the attitudes and behaviours of healthcare professionals regarding patient care are not known. This study aimed to explore the possible influence of Bhutan's traditional cultural values on staff attitudes towards patient safety and quality care. Undertaken as a qualitative exploratory descriptive inquiry, a purposeful sample of 94 healthcare professionals and managers were recruited from three levels of hospitals, a training institute and the Ministry of Health. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis strategies. The findings of the study suggest that Bhutanese traditional cultural values have both productive and counterproductive influences on staff attitudes towards healthcare delivery and the processes that need to be in place to ensure patient safety. Productive influences encompassed: karmic incentives to avoid preventable harm and promote safe patient care; and the prospective adoption of the 'four harmonious friends' as a culturally meaningful frame for improving understanding of the role and importance of teamwork in enhancing patient safety. Counterproductive influences included: the adoption of hierarchical and authoritative styles of management; unilateral decision-making; the legitimization of karmic beliefs; differential treatment of patients; and preferences for traditional healing practices and rituals. Although problematic in some areas, Bhutan's traditional cultural values could be used positively to inform and frame an effective model for improving patient safety in Bhutan's hospitals. Such a model must entail the institution of an 'indigenized' patient safety program, with patient safety research and reporting systems framed around local

Unlicensed pharmaceutical preparations for clinical patient care: Ensuring safety.

Science.gov (United States)

de Wilde, Sofieke; de Jong, Maria G H; Le Brun, Paul P H; Guchelaar, Henk-Jan; Schimmel, Kirsten J M

2018-01-01

Most medicinal products dispensed to patients have marketing authorization (MA) to ensure high quality of the product, safety, and efficacy. However, in daily practice, to treat patients adequately, there is a medical need for drugs that do not hold MA. To meet this medical need, medicinal products are used in clinical care without MA (unlicensed), such as products prepared by (local) pharmacies: the pharmaceutical preparations. Three types of pharmaceutical preparations are distinguished: (i) reconstitution in excess of summary of product characteristics; (ii) adaptation of a licensed medicinal product (outside its official labeling); (iii) medicinal products from an active pharmaceutical ingredient. Although unlicensed, patients may expect the same quality for these unlicensed pharmaceutical preparations as for the licensed medicinal products. To assure this quality, a proper risk-benefit assessment and proper documentation in (centralized) patient registries and linking to a national pharmacovigilance database should be in place. Based on a risk assessment matrix, requirements for quality assurance can be determined, which has impact on the level of documentation of a pharmaceutical preparation. In this paper, the approach for good documentation including quality assurance and benefit-risk assessment will be discussed and possibilities for patient registries are described to make these crucial preparations available for regular patient care. KEY POINTS Ensuring pharmaceutical quality and performing a proper benefit-risk assessment will guarantee safe use of pharmaceutical preparations. Good documentation of (ultra-)orphan treatments can be collected in centralized patient registries and should be combined with existing information in (inter)national databases and self-reflection of patients. Linking patient registries to a centralized database for adverse drug events is highly recommended as it increases safety control of the (ultra) orphan pharmaceutical

76 FR 7855 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Delisting From Community Medical Foundation for Patient...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-11

... Organizations: Voluntary Delisting From Community Medical Foundation for Patient Safety AGENCY: Agency for... Medical Foundation for Patient Safety, of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient... notification from Community Medical Foundation for Patient Safety, PSO number P0029, to voluntarily relinquish...

Patient safety incident reporting: a qualitative study of thoughts and perceptions of experts 15 years after 'To Err is Human'.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Imogen; Schuster, Anne; Smith, Katherine; Pronovost, Peter; Wu, Albert

2016-02-01

One of the key recommendations of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) report, To Err is Human, 15 years ago was for greater attention to incident reporting in healthcare, analogous to the role it has played in aviation and other high-risk industries. With the passage of time and maturation of the patient safety field, we conducted semistructured interviews with 11 international patient safety experts with knowledge of the US healthcare and meeting at least one of the following criteria: (1) involved in the development of the IOM's recommendations, (2) responsible for the design and/or implementation of national or regional incident reporting systems, (3) conducted research on patient safety/incident reporting at a national level. Five key challenges emerged to explain why incident reporting has not reached its potential: poor processing of incident reports (triaging, analysis, recommendations), inadequate engagement of doctors, insufficient subsequent visible action, inadequate funding and institutional support of incident reporting systems and inadequate usage of evolving health information technology. Leading patient safety experts acknowledge the current challenges of incident reports. The future of incident reporting lies in targeted incident reporting, effective triaging and robust analysis of the incident reports and meaningful engagement of doctors. Incident reporting must be coupled with visible, sustainable action and linkage of incident reports to the electronic health record. If the healthcare industry wants to learn from its mistakes, miss or near miss events, it will need to take incident reporting as seriously as the health budget. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

78 FR 12065 - Patient Safety Organizations: Delisting for Cause for Independent Data Safety Monitoring, Inc.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-21

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety... Safety Monitoring, Inc. due to its failure to correct a deficiency. The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act) authorizes the listing of PSOs, which are entities or component...

The Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anesthesiology: a way forward with the European Board and the European Society of Anesthesiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrini, F; Solca, M; De Robertis, E; Peduto, V A; Pasetto, A; Conti, G; Antonelli, M; Pelosi, P

2010-11-01

Anesthesiology, which includes anaesthesia, perioperative care, intensive care medicine, emergency medicine and pain therapy, is acknowledged as the leading medical specialty in addressing issues of patient safety, but there is still a long way to go. Several factors pose hazards in Anesthesiology, like increasingly older and sicker patients, more complex surgical interventions, more pressure on throughput, as well as new drugs and devices. To better design educational and research strategies to improve patient safety, the European Board of Anesthesiology (EBA) and the European Society of Anesthesiology (ESA) have produced a blueprint for patient safety in Anesthesiology. This document, to be known as the Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anesthesiology, was endorsed together with the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists (WFSA), and the European Patients' Federation (EPF) at the Euroanaesthesia meeting in Helsinki in June 2010. It was signed by several Presidents of National Anesthesiology Societies as well as other stakeholders. The Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anesthesiology represents a shared European view of what is necessary to improve patient safety, recommending practical steps that all anesthesiologists can include in their own clinical practice. The Italian Society of Anaesthesia, Analgesia, Reanimation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) is looking forward to continuing work on "patient safety" issues in Europe, and to cooperating with the ESA in the best interest of European patients.

The impact of situation-background-assessment-recommendation (SBAR) on safety attitudes in the obstetrics department.

Science.gov (United States)

Ting, Wan-Hua; Peng, Fu-Shiang; Lin, Ho-Hsiung; Hsiao, Sheng-Mou

2017-04-01

Previous studies evaluating the situation-background-assessment-recommendation (SBAR) have been shown to increase effective nurse-physician communication and collaboration. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of the SBAR technique on safety attitudes in the obstetrics department. This study implemented the SBAR Collaborative Communication Education course and was conducted in a medical center from February 2012 to March 2015, which included an educational session on fetal heart rate monitoring, a case-based discussion, and a video demonstration on traditional and SBAR communication. The nurses in the obstetrics department were requested to report their clinical findings and recommendations using a novel SBAR list when abnormal fetal heart beat tracings occurred. All obstetric nurses were requested to complete the Chinese-version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire before and after the SBAR educational course. The primary outcome was to evaluate the effect of the SBAR technique on the safety attitudes of the obstetrics department. The secondary outcome was to evaluate the effect of the SBAR technique on the 5-minute Apgar score for neonates. Most values, including teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, and working conditions, significantly improved at both postintervention surveys compared with the preintervention survey. There were no significant differences in the number of the neonates with less than seven 5-minute Apgar scores between the pre- and postintervention periods. The SBAR technique, which uses a novel structured handover list, is a feasible tool for nurse-obstetrician communication, and it may improve most dimensions of safety attitudes in the obstetrics department. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

75 FR 57281 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary delisting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-20

... Organizations: Voluntary delisting AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS ACTION: Notice... Patient Safety Corporation of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and... the listing of PSOs, which are entities or component organizations whose mission and primary activity...

Patient safety in otolaryngology: a descriptive review.

Science.gov (United States)

Danino, Julian; Muzaffar, Jameel; Metcalfe, Chris; Coulson, Chris

2017-03-01

Human evaluation and judgement may include errors that can have disastrous results. Within medicine and healthcare there has been slow progress towards major changes in safety. Healthcare lags behind other specialised industries, such as aviation and nuclear power, where there have been significant improvements in overall safety, especially in reducing risk of errors. Following several high profile cases in the USA during the 1990s, a report titled "To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System" was published. The report extrapolated that in the USA approximately 50,000 to 100,000 patients may die each year as a result of medical errors. Traditionally otolaryngology has always been regarded as a "safe specialty". A study in the USA in 2004 inferred that there may be 2600 cases of major morbidity and 165 deaths within the specialty. MEDLINE via PubMed interface was searched for English language articles published between 2000 and 2012. Each combined two or three of the keywords noted earlier. Limitations are related to several generic topics within patient safety in otolaryngology. Other areas covered have been current relevant topics due to recent interest or new advances in technology. There has been a heightened awareness within the healthcare community of patient safety; it has become a major priority. Focus has shifted from apportioning blame to prevention of the errors and implementation of patient safety mechanisms in healthcare delivery. Type of Errors can be divided into errors due to action and errors due to knowledge or planning. In healthcare there are several factors that may influence adverse events and patient safety. Although technology may improve patient safety, it also introduces new sources of error. The ability to work with people allows for the increase in safety netting. Team working has been shown to have a beneficial effect on patient safety. Any field of work involving human decision-making will always have a risk of error. Within

Recommendations on the use of expert judgment in safety and reliability engineering studies. Two offshore case studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hokstada, Per; Oien, Knut; Reinertsen, Rune

1998-01-01

This paper provides guidance on the process of establishing input data to safety and reliability engineering analyses when no or little field data exist, and expert judgment is required. Some recommendations are directly related to a discussion of basic requirements for scientific work. Further, two case studies are discussed in order to highlight some actual problem areas that are experienced when using expert judgment, and some recommendations for handling these problems are given. The first case describes how expert judgment was used to analyse the safe operation of an umbilical on a semisubmersible drilling rig, and the second case is related to establishing generic failure rates/probabilities for components of offshore safety systems

Safety management of the patient with tracheostomy from a critical care unit.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marleny CASASOLA-GIRÓN

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction and objective: A patient with a tracheostomy has a high morbidity and mortality when comes to a general ward from the critical care unit. This situation has led us to develop a quality and safety program, to improve care and reduce the number of incidents that could endanger his life. Method: Adapting to our environment the recommendations of literature, the program is composed of four elements: standardized information, training of the staff involved, patient follow up and general scheme. Results: The elaborate documentation, offers the way of assessing a patient with tracheostomy, and carry out its assistance. Through interactive workshops, this information is transmitted to the staff responsible for these patients. The periodic inspection by an Otolaryngologist (ENT, an ENT nurse and an intensive care physician, allows to register the clinical situation and possible complications, applying specific protocols of decannulation and swallowing. Finally, we add a set of general rules, to decrease variability. Discussion: The multidisciplinary care in the patient with a tracheostomy is a complex intervention where the lack of previous data, the important number of neurocritical ill patients, the multiplicity of general wards that can accommodate these patients and its clinical diversity, make difficult proper monitoring. Conclusions: We are confident that this project can reach its goals, improving the quality and safety of patient carrier of a tracheal cannula.

Implementation of patient safety strategies in European hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Suñol, R; Vallejo, P; Groene, O; Escaramis, G; Thompson, A; Kutryba, B; Garel, P

2009-02-01

This study is part of the Methods of Assessing Response to Quality Improvement Strategies (MARQuIS) research project on cross-border care, investigating quality improvement strategies in healthcare systems across the European Union (EU). To explore to what extent a sample of acute care European hospitals have implemented patient safety strategies and mechanisms and whether the implementation is related to the type of hospital. Data were collected on patient safety structures and mechanisms in 389 acute care hospitals in eight EU countries using a web-based questionnaire. Subsequently, an on-site audit was carried out by independent surveyors in 89 of these hospitals to assess patient safety outputs. This paper presents univariate and bivariate statistics on the implementation and explores the associations between implementation of patient safety strategies and hospital type using the chi(2) test and Fisher exact test. Structures and plans for safety (including responsibilities regarding patient safety management) are well developed in most of the hospitals that participated in this study. The study found greater variation regarding the implementation of mechanisms or activities to promote patient safety, such as electronic drug prescription systems, guidelines for prevention of wrong patient, wrong site and wrong surgical procedure, and adverse events reporting systems. In the sample of hospitals that underwent audit, a considerable proportion do not comply with basic patient safety strategies--for example, using bracelets for adult patient identification and correct labelling of medication.

42 CFR 3.212 - Nonidentification of patient safety work product.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Nonidentification of patient safety work product. 3... PROVISIONS PATIENT SAFETY ORGANIZATIONS AND PATIENT SAFETY WORK PRODUCT Confidentiality and Privilege Protections of Patient Safety Work Product § 3.212 Nonidentification of patient safety work product. (a...

Producing health, producing safety. Developing a collective safety culture in radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nascimento, Adelaide

2009-01-01

This research thesis aims at a better understanding of safety management in radiotherapy and at proposing improvements for patient safety through the development of a collective safety culture. A first part presents the current context in France and abroad, addresses the transposition of other safety methods to the medical domain, and discusses the peculiarities of radiotherapy in terms of risks and the existing quality-assurance approaches. The second part presents the theoretical framework by commenting the intellectual evolution with respect to system safety and the emergence of the concept of safety culture, and by presenting the labour collective aspects and their relationship with system safety. The author then comments the variety of safety cultures among the different professions present in radiotherapy, highlights the importance of the collective dimension in correcting discrepancies at the end of the treatment process, and highlights how physicians take their colleagues work into account. Recommendations are made to improve patient safety in radiotherapy

Patient safety in out-of-hours primary care: a review of patient records

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wensing Michel

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Most patients receive healthcare in primary care settings, but relatively little is known about patient safety. Out-of-hours contacts are of particular importance to patient safety. Our aim was to examine the incidence, types, causes, and consequences of patient safety incidents at general practice cooperatives for out-of-hours primary care and to examine which factors were associated with the occurrence of patient safety incidents. Methods A retrospective study of 1,145 medical records concerning patient contacts with four general practice cooperatives. Reviewers identified records with evidence of a potential patient safety incident; a physician panel determined whether a patient safety incident had indeed occurred. In addition, the panel determined the type, causes, and consequences of the incidents. Factors associated with incidents were examined in a random coefficient logistic regression analysis. Results In 1,145 patient records, 27 patient safety incidents were identified, an incident rate of 2.4% (95% CI: 1.5% to 3.2%. The most frequent incident type was treatment (56%. All incidents had at least partly been caused by failures in clinical reasoning. The majority of incidents did not result in patient harm (70%. Eight incidents had consequences for the patient, such as additional interventions or hospitalisation. The panel assessed that most incidents were unlikely to result in patient harm in the long term (89%. Logistic regression analysis showed that age was significantly related to incident occurrence: the likelihood of an incident increased with 1.03 for each year increase in age (95% CI: 1.01 to 1.04. Conclusion Patient safety incidents occur in out-of-hours primary care, but most do not result in harm to patients. As clinical reasoning played an important part in these incidents, a better understanding of clinical reasoning and guideline adherence at GP cooperatives could contribute to patient safety.

42 CFR 3.204 - Privilege of patient safety work product.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Privilege of patient safety work product. 3.204... PROVISIONS PATIENT SAFETY ORGANIZATIONS AND PATIENT SAFETY WORK PRODUCT Confidentiality and Privilege Protections of Patient Safety Work Product § 3.204 Privilege of patient safety work product. (a) Privilege...

Trends in pharmacy staff's perception of patient safety in Swedish community pharmacies after re-regulation of conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kälvemark Sporrong, Sofia; Nordén-Hägg, Annika

2014-10-01

All changes in the regulation of pharmacies have an impact on the work carried out in pharmacies and also on patient safety, regardless of whether this is the intention or not. To compare staff apprehension regarding some aspects of patient safety and quality in community pharmacies prior to and after the 2009 changes in regulation of the Swedish community pharmacy market. Questionnaires targeted at pharmacy staff before and after the changes in regulation (in 2008, 2011/12, and 2012/13 respectively) used four identical items, making comparisons of some aspects possible. All four items demonstrated a significant decrease in the first survey after the changes as compared to before. In the second survey significant differences were found on the two items representing safety climate whereas the items representing team climate and management showed no significant differences. The comparison carried out in this study indicates a negative effect in Swedish community pharmacies on safety and quality issues, as experienced by pharmacy staff. It is recommended that the possible effects of healthcare reforms are assessed before implementation, in order to counteract conceivable decline in factors including patient safety and working conditions.

Improving Patient Safety: Improving Communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Bittner-Fagan, Heather; Davis, Joshua; Savoy, Margot

2017-12-01

Communication among physicians, staff, and patients is a critical element in patient safety. Effective communication skills can be taught and improved through training and awareness. The practice of family medicine allows for long-term relationships with patients, which affords opportunities for ongoing, high-quality communication. There are many barriers to effective communication, including patient factors, clinician factors, and system factors, but tools and strategies exist to address these barriers, improve communication, and engage patients in their care. Use of universal precautions for health literacy, appropriate medical interpreters, and shared decision-making are evidence-based tools that improve communication and increase patient safety. Written permission from the American Academy of Family Physicians is required for reproduction of this material in whole or in part in any form or medium.

Patient safety initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe: A mixed methods approach by the LINNEAUS collaboration on patient safety in primary care

Science.gov (United States)

Godycki-Cwirko, Maciek; Esmail, Aneez; Dovey, Susan; Wensing, Michel; Parker, Dianne; Kowalczyk, Anna; Błaszczyk, Honorata; Kosiek, Katarzyna

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Despite patient safety being recognized as an important healthcare issue in the European Union, there has been variable implementation of patient safety initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Objective: To assess the status of patient safety initiatives in countries in CEE; to describe a process of engagement in Poland, which can serve as a template for the implementation of patient safety initiatives in primary care. Methods: A mixed methods design was used. We conducted a review of literature focusing on publications from CEE, an inventory of patient safety initiatives in CEE countries, interviews with key informants, international survey, review of national reporting systems, and pilot demonstrator project in Poland with implementation of patient safety toolkits assessment. Results: There was no published patient safety research from Albania, Belarus, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, or Russia. Nine papers were found from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, and Slovenia. In most of the CEE countries, patient safety had been addressed at the policy level although the focus was mainly in hospital care. There was a dearth of activity in primary care. The use of patient improvement strategies was low. Conclusion: International cooperation as exemplified in the demonstrator project can help in the development and implementation of patient safety initiatives in primary care in changing the emphasis away from a blame culture to one where greater emphasis is placed on improvement and learning. PMID:26339839

Culture, language, and patient safety: Making the link.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnstone, Megan-Jane; Kanitsaki, Olga

2006-10-01

It has been well recognized internationally that hospitals are not as safe as they should be. In order to redress this situation, health care services around the world have turned their attention to strategically implementing robust patient safety and quality care programmes to identify circumstances that put patients at risk of harm and then acting to prevent or control those risks. Despite the progress that has been made in improving hospital safety in recent years, there is emerging evidence that patients of minority cultural and language backgrounds are disproportionately at risk of experiencing preventable adverse events while in hospital compared with mainstream patient groups. One reason for this is that patient safety programmes have tended to underestimate and understate the critical relationship that exists between culture, language, and the safety and quality of care of patients from minority racial, ethno-cultural, and language backgrounds. This article suggests that the failure to recognize the critical link between culture and language (of both the providers and recipients of health care) and patient safety stands as a 'resident pathogen' within the health care system that, if not addressed, unacceptably exposes patients from minority ethno-cultural and language backgrounds to preventable adverse events in hospital contexts. It is further suggested that in order to ensure that minority as well as majority patient interests in receiving safe and quality care are properly protected, the culture-language-patient-safety link needs to be formally recognized and the vulnerabilities of patients from minority cultural and language backgrounds explicitly identified and actively addressed in patient safety systems and processes.

Nurses' perceptions of patient safety culture in Jordanian hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Khater, W A; Akhu-Zaheya, L M; Al-Mahasneh, S I; Khater, R

2015-03-01

Patients' safety culture is a key aspect in determining healthcare organizations' ability to address and reduce risks of patients. Nurses play a major role in patients' safety because they are accountable for direct and continuous patient care. There is little known information about patients' safety culture in Jordanian hospitals, particularly from the perspective of healthcare providers. The study aimed to assess patient safety culture in Jordanian hospitals from nurses' perspective. A cross-sectional, descriptive design was utilized. A total number of 658 nurses participated in the current study. Data were collected using an Arabic version of the hospital survey of patients' safety culture. Teamwork within unit dimensions had a high positive response, and was perceived by nurses to be the only strong suit in Jordanian hospitals. Areas that required improvement, as perceived by nurses, are as follows: communication openness, staffing, handoff and transition, non-punitive responses to errors, and teamwork across units. Regression analysis revealed factors, from nurses' perspectives, that influenced patients' safety culture in Jordanian hospital. Factors included age, total years of experience, working in university hospitals, utilizing evidence-based practice and working in hospitals that consider patient safety to be a priority. Participants in this study were limited to nurses. Therefore, there is a need to assess patient safety culture from other healthcare providers' perspectives. Moreover, the use of a self-reported questionnaire introduced the social desirability biases. The current study provides insight into how nurses perceive patient safety culture. Results of this study have revealed that there is a need to replace the traditional culture of shame/blame with a non-punitive culture. Study results implied that improving patient safety culture requires a fundamental transformation of nurses' work environment. New policies to improve collaboration between

A recommendation of the National Board for Atomic Safety and Radiation Protection for the appointment of Nuclear Safety Control Officers for research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adler, B.

1990-01-01

The Ordinance on the Implementation of Atomic Safety and Radiation Protection of the GDR requires that the managers of plants where nuclear facilities are operated appoint Control Officers for the fields of radiation protection, nuclear safety, physical protection, and accounting for and control of nuclear materials. The Control Officers are staff members of the operating organization but their appointment is subject to approval by the National Board and requires adequate qualification. The main task of the Control Officers as specialists is to give advice to the plant manager who retains responsibility for the safety of nuclear facilities, and to verify on his behalf that all requirements within their competence are met by the operating group. For this reason the Control Officer has to be absolutely independent of the head of the operating group. To enable the Control Officers to accomplish all necessary control activities and to guarantee independence from the head of the operating group, the plant manager has to establish adequate regulations of operation. As a pattern for such regulations the National Board has issued a Recommendation for the Appointment of Nuclear Safety Control Officers for Research Reactors, which provides a comprehensive survey of the requisite qualification features as well as the duties and rights of these Control Officers. This recommendation will be dealt with in the presentation

Reliability and safety of functional capacity evaluation in patients with whiplash associated disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Trippolini, M A; Reneman, M F; Jansen, B; Dijkstra, P U; Geertzen, J H B

2013-09-01

Whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) are a burden for both individuals and society. It is recommended to evaluate patients with WAD at risk of chronification to enhance rehabilitation and promote an early return to work. In patients with low back pain (LBP), functional capacity evaluation (FCE) contributes to clinical decisions regarding fitness-for-work. FCE should have demonstrated sufficient clinimetric properties. Reliability and safety of FCE for patients with WAD is unknown. Thirty-two participants (11 females and 21 males; mean age 39.6 years) with WAD (Grade I or II) were included. The FCE consisted of 12 tests, including material handling, hand grip strength, repetitive arm movements, static arm activities, walking speed, and a 3 min step test. Overall the FCE duration was 60 min. The test-retest interval was 7 days. Interclass correlations (model 1) (ICCs) and limits of agreement (LoA) were calculated. Safety was assessed by a Pain Response Questionnaire, observation criteria and heart rate monitoring. ICCs ranged between 0.57 (3 min step test) and 0.96 (short two-handed carry). LoA relative to mean performance ranged between 15 % (50 m walking test) and 57 % (lifting waist to overhead). Pain reactions after WAD FCE decreased within days. Observations and heart rate measurements fell within the safety criteria. The reliability of the WAD FCE was moderate in two tests, good in five tests and excellent in five tests. Safety-criteria were fulfilled. Interpretation at the patient level should be performed with care because LoA were substantial.

Adherence to clinic recommendations among patients with phenylketonuria in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Jurecki, E R; Cederbaum, S; Kopesky, J; Perry, K; Rohr, F; Sanchez-Valle, A; Viau, K S; Sheinin, M Y; Cohen-Pfeffer, J L

2017-03-01

Assess current management practices of phenylketonuria (PKU) clinics across the United States (US) based on the key treatment metrics of blood phenylalanine (Phe) concentrations and blood Phe testing frequency, as well as patient adherence to their clinic's management practice recommendations. An online survey was conducted with medical professionals from PKU clinics across the US from July to September 2015. Forty-four clinics participated in the survey and account for approximately half of PKU patients currently followed in clinics in the US (Berry et al., 2013). The majority of PKU clinics recommended target blood Phe concentrations to be between 120 and 360μM for all patients; the upper threshold was relaxed by some clinics for adult patients (from 360 to 600μM) and tightened for patients who are pregnant/planning to become pregnant (to 240μM). Patient adherence to these recommendations (percentage of patients with blood Phe below the upper recommended threshold) was age-dependent, decreasing from 88% in the 0-4years age group to 33% in adults 30+ years. Patient adherence to recommendations for blood testing frequency followed a similar trend. Higher staffing intensity (specialists per 100 PKU patients) was associated with better patient adherence to clinics' blood Phe concentrations recommendations. Clinic recommendations of target blood Phe concentrations in the US are now stricter compared to prior years, and largely reflect recent guidelines by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (Vockley et al., 2014). Adherence to recommended Phe concentrations remains suboptimal, especially in older patients. However, despite remaining above the guidelines, actual blood Phe concentrations in adolescents and adults are lower than those reported in the past (Walter et al., 2002; Freehauf et al., 2013). Continued education and support for PKU patients by healthcare professionals, including adequate clinic staffing, are needed to improve adherence

Are we failing to communicate? Internet-based patient education materials and radiation safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansberry, David R; Ramchand, Tekchand; Patel, Shyam; Kraus, Carl; Jung, Jin; Agarwal, Nitin; Gonzales, Sharon F; Baker, Stephen R

2014-09-01

Patients frequently turn to the Internet when seeking answers to healthcare related inquiries including questions about the effects of radiation when undergoing radiologic studies. We investigate the readability of online patient education materials concerning radiation safety from multiple Internet resources. Patient education material regarding radiation safety was downloaded from 8 different websites encompassing: (1) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (2) the Environmental Protection Agency, (3) the European Society of Radiology, (4) the Food and Drug Administration, (5) the Mayo Clinic, (6) MedlinePlus, (7) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and (8) the Society of Pediatric Radiology. From these 8 resources, a total of 45 articles were analyzed for their level of readability using 10 different readability scales. The 45 articles had a level of readability ranging from 9.4 to the 17.2 grade level. Only 3/45 (6.7%) were written below the 10th grade level. No statistical difference was seen between the readability level of the 8 different websites. All 45 articles from all 8 websites failed to meet the recommendations set forth by the National Institutes of Health and American Medical Association that patient education resources be written between the 3rd and 7th grade level. Rewriting the patient education resources on radiation safety from each of these 8 websites would help many consumers of healthcare information adequately comprehend such material. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Ethnic inequalities in patient safety in Dutch hospital care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Rosse, F.

2015-01-01

This thesis shows the first results of Dutch studies on the relation between ethnicity and patient safety. We used mixed methods to identify patient safety outcomes and patient safety risks in a cohort study in 4 urban hospitals among 763 Dutch patients and 576 ethnic minority patients. In a record

An integrative review of patient safety in studies on the care and safety of patients with communication disabilities in hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Hemsley, Bronwyn; Georgiou, Andrew; Hill, Sophie; Rollo, Megan; Steel, Joanne; Balandin, Susan

2016-04-01

To review the research literature on the experiences of patients with communication disabilities in hospital according to the Generic Model of patient safety. In 2014 and 2015, we searched four scientific databases for studies with an aim or result relevant to safety of hospital patients with communication disabilities. The review included 27 studies. A range of adverse event types were outlined in qualitative research. Little detail was provided about contributing or protective factors for safety incidents in hospital for these patients or the impact of the incidents on the patient or organisations involved. Further research addressing the safety of patients with communication disabilities is needed. Sufficient detail is required to identify the nature, timing, and detection of incidents; factors that contribute to or prevent adverse events; and detail the impact of the adverse events. In order to provide safe and effective care to people with communication disabilities in hospital, a priority for health and disability services must be the design and evaluation of ecologically appropriate and evidence-based interventions to improve patient care, communication, and reduce the risk of costly and harmful patient safety incidents. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring and improving patient safety through health information technology: The Health IT Safety Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Hardeep; Sittig, Dean F

2016-04-01

Health information technology (health IT) has potential to improve patient safety but its implementation and use has led to unintended consequences and new safety concerns. A key challenge to improving safety in health IT-enabled healthcare systems is to develop valid, feasible strategies to measure safety concerns at the intersection of health IT and patient safety. In response to the fundamental conceptual and methodological gaps related to both defining and measuring health IT-related patient safety, we propose a new framework, the Health IT Safety (HITS) measurement framework, to provide a conceptual foundation for health IT-related patient safety measurement, monitoring, and improvement. The HITS framework follows both Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) and sociotechnical approaches and calls for new measures and measurement activities to address safety concerns in three related domains: 1) concerns that are unique and specific to technology (e.g., to address unsafe health IT related to unavailable or malfunctioning hardware or software); 2) concerns created by the failure to use health IT appropriately or by misuse of health IT (e.g. to reduce nuisance alerts in the electronic health record (EHR)), and 3) the use of health IT to monitor risks, health care processes and outcomes and identify potential safety concerns before they can harm patients (e.g. use EHR-based algorithms to identify patients at risk for medication errors or care delays). The framework proposes to integrate both retrospective and prospective measurement of HIT safety with an organization's existing clinical risk management and safety programs. It aims to facilitate organizational learning, comprehensive 360 degree assessment of HIT safety that includes vendor involvement, refinement of measurement tools and strategies, and shared responsibility to identify problems and implement solutions. A long term framework goal is to enable rigorous measurement that helps achieve the safety

Adherence to gout management recommendations of Chinese patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheng, Feng; Fang, Weigang; Zhang, Bingqing; Sha, Yue; Zeng, Xuejun

2017-11-01

Though efficacious and affordable treatments for gout are widely available, gout is still not well controlled in many countries of the world including China.To investigate patient adherence to gout management recommendations and potential barriers in Chinese male gout patients, a survey was carried out by telephone interview in male patients registered in the gout clinic at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Adherence to dietary and medication recommendations was measured by a food frequency questionnaire and proportion of cumulative time adherent to chemical urate-lowering therapy (ULT), respectively. Dietary adherence was defined as consumption of alcohol, seafood and animal organs less than once per month, and reduced red meat after dietary counseling. Medication adherence was defined as ULT ≥80% of time in the past 12 months for patients with indications. Logistic regression models were used to identify patient characteristics associated with management adherence. Reasons for nonadherence were also sought by open-end questions.Dietary and medication adherence were 44.2% and 21.9%, respectively. Older age (odds ratio [OR] 7.90, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.49-25.04 for age ≥60), higher serum uric acid (sUA) levels (OR 3.53, 95% CI 1.42-8.75 for the highest quartile), and tophi (OR 2.31, 95% CI 1.12-4.77) were associated with dietary adherence independently, while tophi (OR 14.05, 95% CI 2.67-74.08) and chronic kidney disease (OR 16.66, 95% CI 2.63-105.37) were associated with medication adherence independently. Reasons that patients reported for nonadherence to medication included remission after treatment (35.3%), concerns for potential side effects (22.7%), insufficient patient education (8.7%), and adverse events (8.2%).Patient adherence to gout management recommendations is poor in China. Older age, increased disease burden, and specific comorbidities were associated with management adherence.

Improving patient safety: lessons from rock climbing.

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Nic

2012-02-01

How to improve patient safety remains an intractable problem, despite large investment and some successes. Academics have argued that the root of the problem is a lack of a comprehensive 'safety culture' in hospitals. Other safety-critical industries such as commercial aviation invest heavily in staff training to develop such a culture, but comparable programmes are almost entirely absent from the health care sector. In rock climbing and many other dangerous activities, the 'buddy system' is used to ensure that safety systems are adhered to despite adverse circumstances. This system involves two or more people using simple checks and clear communication to prevent problems causing harm. Using this system as an example could provide a simple, original and entertaining way of introducing medical students to the idea that human factors are central to ensuring patient safety. Teaching the buddy system may improve understanding and acceptance of other patient safety initiatives, and could also be used by junior doctors as a tool to improve the safety of their practice. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

76 FR 7854 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Delisting From Lumetra PSO

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-11

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety... Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act... delivery. The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Final Rule (Patient Safety Rule), 42 CFR part 3...

Effects of the Smartphone Application "Safe Patients" on Knowledge of Patient Safety Issues Among Surgical Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Sumi; Lee, Eunjoo

2017-12-01

Recently, the patient's role in preventing adverse events has been emphasized. Patients who are more knowledgeable about safety issues are more likely to engage in safety initiatives. Therefore, nurses need to develop techniques and tools that increase patients' knowledge in preventing adverse events. For this reason, an educational smartphone application for patient safety called "Safe Patients" was developed through an iterative process involving a literature review, expert consultations, and pilot testing of the application. To determine the effect of "Safe Patients," it was implemented for patients in surgical units in a tertiary hospital in South Korea. The change in patients' knowledge about patient safety was measured using seven true/false questions developed in this study. A one-group pretest and posttest design was used, and a total of 123 of 190 possible participants were tested. The percentage of correct answers significantly increased from 64.5% to 75.8% (P effectively improve patients' knowledge of safety issues. This will ultimately empower patients to engage in safe practices and prevent adverse events related to surgery.

Recommendations service for chronic disease patient in multimodel sensors home environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Hussain, Maqbool; Ali, Taqdir; Khan, Wajahat Ali; Afzal, Muhammad; Lee, Sungyoung; Latif, Khalid

2015-03-01

With advanced technologies in hand, there exist potential applications and services built around monitoring activities of daily living (ADL) of elderly people at nursing homes. Most of the elderly people in these facilities are suffering from different chronic diseases such as dementia. Existing technologies are mainly focusing on non-medication interventions and monitoring of ADL for addressing loss of autonomy or well-being. Monitoring and managing ADL related to cognitive behaviors for non-medication intervention are very effective in improving dementia patients' conditions. However, cognitive functions of patients can be improved if appropriate recommendations of medications are delivered at a particular time. Previously we developed the Secured Wireless Sensor Network Integrated Cloud Computing for Ubiquitous-Life Care (SC(3)). SC(3) services were limited to monitoring ADL of elderly people with Alzheimer's disease and providing non-medication recommendations to the patient. In this article, we propose a system called the Smart Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) as an integral part of the SC(3) platform. Using the Smart CDSS, patients are provided with access to medication recommendations of expert physicians. Physicians are provided with an interface to create clinical knowledge for medication recommendations and to observe the patient's condition. The clinical knowledge created by physicians as the knowledge base of the Smart CDSS produces recommendations to the caregiver for medications based on each patient's symptoms.

Patient safety: break the silence.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Hope L; Kimsey, Diane

2012-05-01

A culture of patient safety requires commitment and full participation from all staff members. In 2008, results of a culture of patient safety survey conducted in the perioperative division of the Lehigh Valley Health Network in Pennsylvania revealed a lack of patient-centered focus, teamwork, and positive communication. As a result, perioperative leaders assembled a multidisciplinary team that designed a safety training program focusing on Crew Resource Management, TeamSTEPPS, and communication techniques. The team used video vignettes and an audience response system to engage learners and promote participation. Topics included using preprocedural briefings and postprocedural debriefings, conflict resolution, and assertiveness techniques. Postcourse evaluations showed that the majority of respondents believed they were better able to question the decisions or actions of someone with more authority. The facility has experienced a marked decrease in the number of incidents requiring a root cause analysis since the program was conducted. Copyright © 2012 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Knowledge Representation in Patient Safety Reporting: An Ontological Approach

OpenAIRE

Liang Chen; Yang Gong

2016-01-01

Purpose: The current development of patient safety reporting systems is criticized for loss of information and low data quality due to the lack of a uniformed domain knowledge base and text processing functionality. To improve patient safety reporting, the present paper suggests an ontological representation of patient safety knowledge. Design/methodology/approach: We propose a framework for constructing an ontological knowledge base of patient safety. The present paper describes our desig...

Recommendations for safety testing with the in vivo comet assay.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasquez, Marie Z

2012-08-30

While the in vivo comet assay increases its role in regulatory safety testing, deliberations about the interpretation of comet data continue. Concerns can arise regarding comet assay publications with limited data from non-blind testing of positive control compounds and using protocols (e.g. dose concentrations, sample times, and tissues) known to give an expected effect. There may be a tendency towards bias when the validation or interpretation of comet assay data is based on results generated by widely accepted but non-validated assays. The greatest advantages of the comet assay are its sensitivity and its ability to detect genotoxicity in tissues and at sample times that could not previously be evaluated. Guidelines for its use and interpretation in safety testing should take these factors into account. Guidelines should be derived from objective review of data generated by blind testing of unknown compounds dosed at non-toxic concentrations and evaluated in a true safety-testing environment, where the experimental design and conclusions must be defensible. However, positive in vivo comet findings with such compounds are rarely submitted to regulatory agencies and this data is typically unavailable for publication due to its proprietary nature. To enhance the development of guidelines for safety testing with the comet assay, and with the permission of several sponsors, this paper presents and discusses relevant data from multiple GLP comet studies conducted blind, with unknown pharmaceuticals and consumer products. Based on these data and the lessons we have learned through the course of conducting these studies, I suggest significant adjustments to the current conventions, and I provide recommendations for interpreting in vivo comet assay results in situations where risk must be evaluated in the absence of carcinogenicity or clinical data. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Patient Safety Threat - Syringe Reuse

Science.gov (United States)

... Safety Stakeholder Meeting December 2009 The One & Only Campaign Patient Notification Toolkit Developing Documents for a Patient Notification Planning Media and Communication Strategies Writing for the Media Spokesperson Preparation Planning the ...

76 FR 60494 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From HPI-PSO

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-29

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety... a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient... delivery. The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Final Rule (Patient Safety Rule), 42 CFR Part 3...

Fundamentals of a patient safety program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frush, Karen S.

2008-01-01

Thousands of people are injured or die from medical errors and adverse events each year, despite being cared for by hard-working, intelligent and well-intended health care professionals, working in the highly complex and high-risk environment of the American health care system. Patient safety leaders have described a need for health care organizations to make error prevention a major strategic objective while at the same time recognizing the importance of transforming the traditional health care culture. In response, comprehensive patient safety programs have been developed with the aim of reducing medical errors and adverse events and acting as a catalyst in the development of a culture of safety. Components of these programs are described, with an emphasis on strategies to improve pediatric patient safety. Physicians, as leaders of the health care team, have a unique opportunity to foster the culture and commitment required to address the underlying systems causes of medical error and harm. (orig.)

Patient safety and nutrition: is there a connection? | Nieuwoudt ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nutrition care is not always recognised as a patient safety issue. This article explores the origins of the patient safety initiative and seeks to identify possible connections between nutrition care and patient safety. Examples of tools that can be used to improve the safety of nutrition care are provided. This is also a call to action ...

What patient characteristics make clinicians recommend brief treatment?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schaefer, B. A.; Koeter, M. W. J.; Wouters, L.; Emmelkamp, P. M. G.; Schene, A. H.

2003-01-01

Objective: Assessing self-rated items that might have an impact on clinicians recommending brief treatment (BT) over unlimited or long-term treatment (ULT). Method: On the basis of patient self-report data we compared patients referred by clinicians to BT (n =71) with those referred to ULT (n =145).

Implementation of Recommendations from the One System Comparative Evaluation of the Hanford Tank Farms and Waste Treatment Plant Safety Bases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garrett, Richard L.; Niemi, Belinda J.; Paik, Ingle K.; Buczek, Jeffrey A.; Lietzow, J.; McCoy, F.; Beranek, F.; Gupta, M.

2013-01-01

A Comparative Evaluation was conducted for One System Integrated Project Team to compare the safety bases for the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant Project (WTP) and Tank Operations Contract (TOC) (i.e., Tank Farms) by an Expert Review Team. The evaluation had an overarching purpose to facilitate effective integration between WTP and TOC safety bases. It was to provide One System management with an objective evaluation of identified differences in safety basis process requirements, guidance, direction, procedures, and products (including safety controls, key safety basis inputs and assumptions, and consequence calculation methodologies) between WTP and TOC. The evaluation identified 25 recommendations (Opportunities for Integration). The resolution of these recommendations resulted in 16 implementation plans. The completion of these implementation plans will help ensure consistent safety bases for WTP and TOC along with consistent safety basis processes. procedures, and analyses. and should increase the likelihood of a successful startup of the WTP. This early integration will result in long-term cost savings and significant operational improvements. In addition, the implementation plans lead to the development of eight new safety analysis methodologies that can be used at other U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) complex sites where URS Corporation is involved

Pharmacist medication reviews to improve safety monitoring in primary care patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Gallimore, Casey E; Sokhal, Dimmy; Zeidler Schreiter, Elizabeth; Margolis, Amanda R

2016-06-01

Patients prescribed psychotropic medications within primary care are at risk of suboptimal monitoring. It is unknown whether pharmacists can improve medication safety through targeted monitoring of at risk populations. Access Community Health Centers implemented a quality improvement pilot project that included pharmacists on an integrated care team to provide medication reviews for patients. Aims were to determine whether inclusion of a pharmacist performing medication reviews within a primary care behavioral health (PCBH) practice is feasible and facilitates safe medication use. Pharmacists performed medication reviews of the electronic health record for patients referred for psychiatry consultation. Reviews were performed 1-3 months following consultation and focused on medications with known suboptimal monitoring rates. Reviews were documented within the EHR and routed to the primary care provider. Primary outcome measures were change in percentage up-to-date on monitoring and AIMS assessment, and at risk of experiencing drug interaction(s) between baseline and 3 months postreview. Secondary outcome was provider opinion of medication reviews collected via electronic survey. Reviews were performed for 144 patients. Three months postreview, percentage up-to-date on recommended monitoring increased 18% (p = .0001), at risk for drug interaction decreased 20% (p improved safety monitoring of psychotropic medications. Results identify key areas for improvement that other clinics considering integration of similar pharmacy services should consider. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Patient safety improvement programmes for primary care. Review of a Delphi procedure and pilot studies by the LINNEAUS collaboration on patient safety in primary care

Science.gov (United States)

Verstappen, Wim; Gaal, Sander; Esmail, Aneez; Wensing, Michel

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: To improve patient safety it is necessary to identify the causes of patient safety incidents, devise solutions and measure the (cost-) effectiveness of improvement efforts. Objective: This paper provides a broad overview with practical guidance on how to improve patient safety. Methods: We used modified online Delphi procedures to reach consensus on methods to improve patient safety and to identify important features of patient safety management in primary care. Two pilot studies were carried out to assess the value of prospective risk analysis (PRA), as a means of identifying the causes of a patient safety incident. Results: A range of different methods can be used to improve patient safety but they have to be contextually specific. Practice organization, culture, diagnostic errors and medication safety were found to be important domains for further improvement. Improvement strategies for patient safety could benefit from insights gained from research on implementation of evidence-based practice. Patient involvement and prospective risk analysis are two promising and innovative strategies for improving patient safety in primary care. Conclusion: A range of methods is available to improve patient safety, but there is no ‘magic bullet.’ Besides better use of the available methods, it is important to use new and potentially more effective strategies, such as prospective risk analysis. PMID:26339837

Dimensions of patient safety culture in family practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Palacios-Derflingher, Luz; O'Beirne, Maeve; Sterling, Pam; Zwicker, Karen; Harding, Brianne K; Casebeer, Ann

2010-01-01

Safety culture has been shown to affect patient safety in healthcare. While the United States and United Kingdom have studied the dimensions that reflect patient safety culture in family practice settings, to date, this has not been done in Canada. Differences in the healthcare systems between these countries and Canada may affect the dimensions found to be relevant here. Thus, it is important to identify and compare the dimensions from the United States and the United Kingdom in a Canadian context. The objectives of this study were to explore the dimensions of patient safety culture that relate to family practice in Canada and to determine if differences and similarities exist between dimensions found in Canada and those found in previous studies undertaken in the United States and the United Kingdom. A qualitative study was undertaken applying thematic analysis using focus groups with family practice offices and supplementary key stakeholders. Analysis of the data indicated that most of the dimensions from the United States and United Kingdom are appropriate in our Canadian context. Exceptions included owner/managing partner/leadership support for patient safety, job satisfaction and overall perceptions of patient safety and quality. Two unique dimensions were identified in the Canadian context: disclosure and accepting responsibility for errors. Based on this early work, it is important to consider differences in care settings when understanding dimensions of patient safety culture. We suggest that additional research in family practice settings is critical to further understand the influence of context on patient safety culture.

77 FR 42738 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From the Coalition for Quality and Patient...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-20

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From the Coalition for Quality and Patient Safety of Chicagoland (CQPS.... SUMMARY: The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act), Public Law 109-41,42...

An electronic intervention to improve safety for pain patients co-prescribed chronic opioids and benzodiazepines.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaman, Tauheed; Rife, Tessa L; Batki, Steven L; Pennington, David L

2018-03-29

Co-prescribing opioids and benzodiazepines increases overdose risk. A paucity of literature exists evaluating strategies to improve safety of co-prescribing. This study evaluated an electronic intervention to improve safety for patients co-prescribed chronic opioids for pain and benzodiazepines at 3 and 6 months. A prospective cohort study was conducted from December 2015 through May 2016 at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System. A clinical dashboard identified 145 eligible patients prescribed chronic opioids and benzodiazepines. Individualized taper and safety recommendations were communicated to prescribers via electronic medical record progress note and encrypted e-mail at baseline. Primary outcome was number of patients co-prescribed chronic opioids and benzodiazepines. Secondary outcomes included daily dose of opioids and benzodiazepines and number prescribed ≥100 mg morphine equivalent daily dose. Safety outcomes included number with opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution, annual urine drug screening, annual prescription drug monitoring program review, and signed opioid informed consent. Linear mixed models and generalized estimating equations were used to examine within-group change in outcomes between baseline and 3 and 6 months. Among the 145 patients, mean (standard deviation) age was 62 (11) years and 91.7% (133/145) were male. Number co-prescribed significantly decreased from 145/145 (100%) at baseline to 93/139 (67%) at 6-month follow-up (odds ratio [OR] = 0.53, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.34-0.81, P = .003). Mean opioid and benzodiazepine doses significantly decreased from 84.61 to 65.63 mg (95% CI: 8.32-27.86, P improve safety for patients co-prescribed chronic opioids for pain and benzodiazepines.

Patient safety trilogy: perspectives from clinical engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Gieras, Izabella; Sherman, Paul; Minsent, Dennis

2013-01-01

This article examines the role a clinical engineering or healthcare technology management (HTM) department can play in promoting patient safety from three different perspectives: a community hospital, a national government health system, and an academic medical center. After a general overview, Izabella Gieras from Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, CA, leads off by examining the growing role of human factors in healthcare technology, and describing how her facility uses clinical simulations in medical equipment evaluations. A section by Paul Sherman follows, examining patient safety initiatives from the perspective of the Veterans Health Administration with a focus on hazard alerts and recalls. Dennis Minsent from Oregon Health & Science University writes about patient safety from an academic healthcare perspective, and details how clinical engineers can engage in multidisciplinary safety opportunities.

42 CFR 3.208 - Continued protection of patient safety work product.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Continued protection of patient safety work product... GENERAL PROVISIONS PATIENT SAFETY ORGANIZATIONS AND PATIENT SAFETY WORK PRODUCT Confidentiality and Privilege Protections of Patient Safety Work Product § 3.208 Continued protection of patient safety work...

A patient safety objective structured clinical examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Ranjit; Singh, Ashok; Fish, Reva; McLean, Don; Anderson, Diana R; Singh, Gurdev

2009-06-01

There are international calls for improving education for health care workers around certain core competencies, of which patient safety and quality are integral and transcendent parts. Although relevant teaching programs have been developed, little is known about how best to assess their effectiveness. The objective of this work was to develop and implement an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) to evaluate the impact of a patient safety curriculum. The curriculum was implemented in a family medicine residency program with 47 trainees. Two years after commencing the curriculum, a patient safety OSCE was developed and administered at this program and, for comparison purposes, to incoming residents at the same program and to residents at a neighboring residency program. All 47 residents exposed to the training, all 16 incoming residents, and 10 of 12 residents at the neighboring program participated in the OSCE. In a standardized patient case, error detection and error disclosure skills were better among trained residents. In a chart-based case, trained residents showed better performance in identifying deficiencies in care and described more appropriate means of addressing them. Third year residents exposed to a "Systems Approach" course performed better at system analysis and identifying system-based solutions after the course than before. Results suggest increased systems thinking and inculcation of a culture of safety among residents exposed to a patient safety curriculum. The main weaknesses of the study are its small size and suboptimal design. Much further investigation is needed into the effectiveness of patient safety curricula.

Quarterly report on Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 90-7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cash, R.J.; Dukelow, G.T.

1991-10-01

This is the second quarterly report on the progress of activities addressing safety issues associated with Hanford Site high-level radioactive waste tanks that contain ferrocyanide compounds. An implementation plan (Cash 1991) responding to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 90-7 (FR 1990) was issued in March 1991 describing the activities planned and underway to address each of the six parts of the recommendation. All of the activities listed in the implementation plan are underway, including the multifunctional instrument tree and infrared tasks which resumed in late July. Although technical difficulties and resource limitations delayed some work, noteworthy progress has been made in completing a number of ferrocyanide program milestones. Thermal modeling shows that the heat loading of tank 241-BY-104 is much lower than previously listed and that significant hot spots within the waste are highly unlikely, if not possible. Computerized continuous temperature monitoring was installed on schedule on five of the highest interest tanks and five additional tanks will be on-line in December. Tank intrusive sampling is proceeding and the first vapor samples were obtained in mid-October. Spectral scans were completed for twelve tanks and substantial progress was made on design of an infrared scanning system. Chemical reaction studies are underway with synthetic ferrocyanide compounds believed to be more representative of the ferrocyanide materials actually deposited in the tanks. Tests indicate that water plays a major role in impeding a possible runaway reaction. An emergency planning exercise was conducted in May, emergency procedures were updated this quarter, and validation of the procedures and a second emergency exercise is scheduled for October

Qualification of Simulation Software for Safety Assessment of Sodium Cooled Fast Reactors. Requirements and Recommendations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, Nicholas R. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Pointer, William David [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Sieger, Matt [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Flanagan, George F. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Moe, Wayne [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); HolbrookINL, Mark [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2016-04-01

The goal of this review is to enable application of codes or software packages for safety assessment of advanced sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) designs. To address near-term programmatic needs, the authors have focused on two objectives. First, the authors have focused on identification of requirements for software QA that must be satisfied to enable the application of software to future safety analyses. Second, the authors have collected best practices applied by other code development teams to minimize cost and time of initial code qualification activities and to recommend a path to the stated goal.

A regulatory view on the applicability of the new ICRP recommendations to nuclear safety aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez Gomez, E.; Naegelin, R.; Vuorinen, A.P.U.

1991-01-01

The new ICRP recommendations will cause several changes in the radiological practice. This paper discusses these changes from the point of regulatory view of nuclear safety. To avoid adverse short-term effects, the new risk estimates should be adopted in radiation protection standards with great care. The ultimate objective of nuclear safety is to protect people environment and property against radiological hazards. Improvements in principles and practices developed by the ICRP are important in reaching the primary goal. A severe nuclear accident must be prevented in advance. Every scientific and technical means have to used; optimization is not the solution of the problem

From Safe Systems to Patient Safety

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aarts, J.; Nøhr, C.

2010-01-01

for the third conference with the theme: The ability to design, implement and evaluate safe, useable and effective systems within complex health care organizations. The theme for this conference was "Designing and Implementing Health IT: from safe systems to patient safety". The contributions have reflected...... and implementation of safe systems and thus contribute to the agenda of patient safety? The contributions demonstrate how the health informatics community has contributed to the performance of significant research and to translating research findings to develop health care delivery and improve patient safety......This volume presents the papers from the fourth International Conference on Information Technology in Health Care: Socio-technical Approaches held in Aalborg, Denmark in June 2010. In 2001 the first conference was held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands with the theme: Sociotechnical' approaches...

Quality of healthcare services and its relationship with patient safety culture and nurse-physician professional communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghahramanian, Akram; Rezaei, Tayyebeh; Abdullahzadeh, Farahnaz; Sheikhalipour, Zahra; Dianat, Iman

2017-01-01

Background: This study investigated quality of healthcare services from patients' perspectives and its relationship with patient safety culture and nurse-physician professional communication. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 surgery patients and 101 nurses caring them in a public hospital in Tabriz-Iran. Data were collected using the service quality measurement scale (SERVQUAL), hospital survey on patient safety culture (HSOPSC) and nurse physician professional communication questionnaire. Results: The highest and lowest mean (±SD) scores of the patients' perception on the healthcare services quality belonged to the assurance 13.92 (±3.55) and empathy 6.78 (±1.88) domains,respectively. With regard to the patient safety culture, the mean percentage of positive answers ranged from 45.87% for "non-punitive response to errors" to 68.21% for "organizational continuous learning" domains. The highest and lowest mean (±SD) scores for the nurse physician professional communication were obtained for "cooperation" 3.44 (±0.35) and "non-participative decision-making" 2.84 (±0.34) domains, respectively. The "frequency of reported errors by healthcare professionals" (B=-4.20, 95% CI = -7.14 to -1.27, P<0.01) and "respect and sharing of information" (B=7.69, 95% CI=4.01 to 11.36, P<0.001) predicted the patients'perceptions of the quality of healthcare services. Conclusion: Organizational culture in dealing with medical error should be changed to non-punitive response. Change in safety culture towards reporting of errors, effective communication and teamwork between healthcare professionals are recommended.

Are long physician working hours harmful to patient safety?

Science.gov (United States)

Ehara, Akira

2008-04-01

Pediatricians of Japanese hospitals including not only residents but also attending physicians work long hours, and 8% work for >79 h per week. Most of them work consecutively for >or=32 h when they are on call. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of long work hours on patient safety. The electronic databases MEDLINE and EMBASE to searched identify the English- and Japanese-language literature for studies on work hours, medical errors, patient safety, and malpractice for years 1966-2005. Studies that analyzed the relationship between physician work hours and outcomes directly related to patient safety were selected. Seven studies met the criteria. Four studies suggest that reduction of work hours has a favorable effect on patient safety indicators. In the other three studies no significant changes of the indicators were observed, but no report found that shorter work hours were harmful to patient safety. Decrease of physician work hours is not harmful but favorable to patient safety.

Ethical issues in patient safety: Implications for nursing management.

Science.gov (United States)

Kangasniemi, Mari; Vaismoradi, Mojtaba; Jasper, Melanie; Turunen, Hannele

2013-12-01

The purpose of this article is to discuss the ethical issues impacting the phenomenon of patient safety and to present implications for nursing management. Previous knowledge of this perspective is fragmented. In this discussion, the main drivers are identified and formulated in 'the ethical imperative' of patient safety. Underlying values and principles are considered, with the aim of increasing their visibility for nurse managers' decision-making. The contradictory nature of individual and utilitarian safety is identified as a challenge in nurse management practice, together with the context of shared responsibility and identification of future challenges. As a conclusion, nurse managers play a strategic role in patient safety. Their role is to incorporate ethical values of patient safety into decision-making at all levels in an organization, and also to encourage clinical nurses to consider values in the provision of care to patients. Patient safety that is sensitive to ethics provides sustainable practice where the humanity and dignity of all stakeholders are respected.

Recommended Tritium Oxide Deposition Velocity For Use In Savannah River Site Safety Analyses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, P. L.; Murphy, C. E.; Viner, B. J.; Hunter, C. H.

2012-07-31

This report documents the results of examining the deposition velocity of water to forests, the residence time of HTO in forests, and the relation between deposition velocity and residence time with specific consideration given to the topography and experimental work performed at SRS. A simple mechanistic model is used to obtain plausible deposition velocity and residence time values where experimental data are not available and recommendations are made for practical application in a safety analysis model.

Announcement of recommendations of the Reaktor-Sicherheitskommission. As of 24 July 1997. Joint recommendations of RSK and GPR for safety requirements of future nuclear PWR-type power plants. English versions published in the years 1995 through 1997

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

The recommendations, most parts given in English, refer to the European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) and have been established by the German RSK (reactor safety commission), the corresponding French organization GPR and the German SSK (radiation protection commission). This publication continues earlier joint recommendations by the national bodies, last published by the German BMU (responsible German ministry) on 5 May 1995, in BAnz. page 7452. The safety recommendations establish the basis for further activities in the Franco-German project for development of the EPR, a PWR type reactor of the next generation. (CB) [de

Influence of workplace demands on nurses' perception of patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramanujam, Rangaraj; Abrahamson, Kathleen; Anderson, James G

2008-06-01

Patient safety is an ongoing challenge in the design and delivery of health-care services. As registered nurses play an integral role in patient safety, further examination of the link between nursing work and patient safety is warranted. The present study examines the relationship between nurses' perceptions of job demands and nurses' perceptions of patient safety. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data collected from a survey of 430 registered nurses at two community hospitals in the USA. As hypothesized, nurses' perception of patient safety decreases as the job demands increase. The level of personal control over practice directly affects nurses' perception of the ability to assure patient well-being. Nurses who work full-time and are highly educated have a decreased perception of patient safety, as well. The significant relationship between job demands and patient safety confirms that nurses make a connection between their working conditions and the ability to deliver safe care.

Collaborating with nurse leaders to develop patient safety practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanerva, Anne; Kivinen, Tuula; Lammintakanen, Johanna

2017-07-03

Purpose The organisational level and leadership development are crucial elements in advancing patient safety, because patient safety weaknesses are often caused by system failures. However, little is known about how frontline leader and director teams can be supported to develop patient safety practices. The purpose of this study is to describe the patient safety development process carried out by nursing leaders and directors. The research questions were: how the chosen development areas progressed in six months' time and how nursing leaders view the participatory development process. Design/methodology/approach Participatory action research was used to engage frontline nursing leaders and directors into developing patient safety practices. Semi-structured group interviews ( N = 10) were used in data collection at the end of a six-month action cycle, and data were analysed using content analysis. Findings The participatory development process enhanced collaboration and gave leaders insights into patient safety as a part of the hospital system and their role in advancing it. The chosen development areas advanced to different extents, with the greatest improvements in those areas with simple guidelines to follow and in which the leaders were most participative. The features of high-reliability organisation were moderately identified in the nursing leaders' actions and views. For example, acting as a change agent to implement patient safety practices was challenging. Participatory methods can be used to support leaders into advancing patient safety. However, it is important that the participants are familiar with the method, and there are enough facilitators to steer development processes. Originality/value Research brings more knowledge of how leaders can increase their effectiveness in advancing patient safety and promoting high-reliability organisation features in the healthcare organisation.

The efficacy and safety of newer anticonvulsants in patients with dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

Dolder, Christian R; Nealy, Kimberly L

2012-08-01

Anticonvulsants are a class of medications that have received considerable interest as possible treatments in patients with behavioural disturbances in dementia. The role of these medications for such a use remains controversial. The current paper reviews the published evidence surrounding the safety and efficacy (i.e. as a behavioural and cognitive treatment) of newer anticonvulsants in patients with dementia. A MEDLINE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, PsycINFO and clinicaltrials.gov search through to December 2011 was conducted for anticonvulsants that have received regulatory approval since 1996. Studies reporting behavioural or cognitive outcomes in patients with dementia were included. Nine trials involving only four medications met selection criteria and were included: levetiracetam (n = 4), oxcarbazepine (n = 1), topiramate (n = 2) and zonisamide (n = 2). Levetiracetam may have a role in the treatment of behavioural symptoms in dementia but study limitations substantially hinder the strength of such a recommendation. Oxcarbazepine and topiramate, based on limited data, do not appear to be effective treatments of behavioural symptoms in dementia. A lack of trials do not allow for conclusions to be made regarding zonisamide. From a cognitive standpoint, levetiracetam was the anticonvulsant most examined in patients with dementia, it appears to have less deleterious effects than some anticonvulsants. Limited data are available on the safety of these medications in elderly patients; however, studies completed thus far have demonstrated some adverse events that are more common or problematic with the use of these drugs in this patient population (i.e. somnolence, dizziness, hyponatraemia, weight loss).

Assessing the relationship between patient safety culture and EHR strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Eric W; Silvera, Geoffrey A; Kazley, Abby S; Diana, Mark L; Huerta, Timothy R

2016-07-11

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between hospitals' electronic health record (EHR) adoption characteristics and their patient safety cultures. The "Meaningful Use" (MU) program is designed to increase hospitals' adoption of EHR, which will lead to better care quality, reduce medical errors, avoid unnecessary cost, and promote a patient safety culture. To reduce medical errors, hospital leaders have been encouraged to promote safety cultures common to high-reliability organizations. Expecting a positive relationship between EHR adoption and improved patient safety cultures appears sound in theory, but it has yet to be empirically demonstrated. Design/methodology/approach - Providers' perceptions of patient safety culture and counts of patient safety incidents are explored in relationship to hospital EHR adoption patterns. Multi-level modeling is employed to data drawn from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's surveys on patient safety culture (level 1) and the American Hospital Association's survey and healthcare information technology supplement (level 2). Findings - The findings suggest that the early adoption of EHR capabilities hold a negative association to the number of patient safety events reported. However, this relationship was not present in providers' perceptions of overall patient safety cultures. These mixed results suggest that the understanding of the EHR-patient safety culture relationship needs further research. Originality/value - Relating EHR MU and providers' care quality attitudes is an important leading indicator for improved patient safety cultures. For healthcare facility managers and providers, the ability to effectively quantify the impact of new technologies on efforts to change organizational cultures is important for pinpointing clinical areas for process improvements.

Recommended safety procedures for the selection and use of demonstration-type gas discharge devices in schools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-01-01

A 1972 survey of 30 Ottawa secondary schools revealed a total of 347 actual or potential X-ray sources available in these schools. More than half of these sources were gas discharge tubes. Some gas discharge tubes, in particular the cold cathode type, can emit X-rays at significantly high levels. Unless such tubes are used carefully, and with regard for good radiation safety practices, they can result in exposures to students that are in excess of the maximum levels recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Several cases of the recommended dose being exceeded were found in the classes surveyed. This document has been prepared to assist science teachers and others using demonstration-type gas discharge devices to select and use such devices so as to present negligible risk to themselves and students. Useful information on safety procedures to be followed when performing demonstrations or experiments is included. (J.T.A.)

Patient Safety, Present and Future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amalberti, R.

2016-01-01

Health care tends to oversimplify patient safety concepts. We tend to think about patient safety as a linear dimension that is only associated with the progressive reduction in the number of errors and accidents, with the simple notion that fewer are always better. We consider figures in isolation from the underlying context and prerequisites that drive safety models and the reality of the clinical fields. There is no one ultimate reference model of safety, but many models that can be adapted to fit the various clinical fields requirements and constraints. It is therefore not necessarily a bad result to observe a lower safety figure in a medical domain compared to the figures obtained in nonmedical ultra-safe models. The poor figures may represent the best local safety optimization while coping with the special health care requirements such as a high frequency of unplanned and nonstandard challenges. The paper distinguishes three classes of safety models that fit different field demands: the resilient and adaptive model, the high reliability (HRO) model, and the ultra-safe model. The lecture benchmarks the traits of each model while highlighting the specific dimensions for optimization. The conclusion is that firstly, that since the task requirements dictate the relevance and choice of the model and not the other way around, it is counterproductive to impose a model that is inadequate for the task requirements. Either you move the requirements and change the model, or you keep the constraints, and try to locally optimize the model to the clinical and organizational needs. (author)

21 CFR 312.88 - Safeguards for patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Safeguards for patient safety. 312.88 Section 312... Severely-debilitating Illnesses § 312.88 Safeguards for patient safety. All of the safeguards incorporated within parts 50, 56, 312, 314, and 600 of this chapter designed to ensure the safety of clinical testing...

Teamwork, organizational learning, patient safety and job outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Goh, Swee C; Chan, Christopher; Kuziemsky, Craig

2013-01-01

This article aims to encourage healthcare administrators to consider the learning organization concept and foster collaborative learning among teams in their attempt to improve patient safety. Relevant healthcare, organizational behavior and human resource management literature was reviewed. A patient safety culture, fostered by healthcare leaders, should include an organizational culture that encourages collaborative learning, replaces the blame culture, prioritizes patient safety and rewards individuals who identify serious mistakes. As healthcare institution staffs are being asked to deliver more complex medical services with fewer resources, there is a need to understand how hospital staff can learn from other organizational settings, especially the non-healthcare sectors. The paper provides suggestions for improving patient safety which are drawn from the health and business management literature.

Patient Drug Safety Reporting: Diabetes Patients' Perceptions of Drug Safety and How to Improve Reporting of Adverse Events and Product Complaints.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Puja; Spears, David; Eriksen, Betina Østergaard; Lollike, Karsten; Sacco, Michael

2018-03-01

Global health care manufacturer Novo Nordisk commissioned research regarding awareness of drug safety department activities and potential to increase patient feedback. Objectives were to examine patients' knowledge of pharmaceutical manufacturers' responsibilities and efforts regarding drug safety, their perceptions and experiences related to these efforts, and how these factors influence their thoughts and behaviors. Data were collected before and after respondents read a description of a drug safety department and its practices. We conducted quantitative survey research across 608 health care consumers receiving treatment for diabetes in the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, and Italy. This research validated initial, exploratory qualitative research (across 40 comparable consumers from the same countries) which served to guide design of the larger study. Before reading a drug safety department description, 55% of respondents were unaware these departments collect safety information on products and patients. After reading the description, 34% reported the department does more than they expected to ensure drug safety, and 56% reported "more confidence" in the industry as a whole. Further, 66% reported themselves more likely to report an adverse event or product complaint, and 60% reported that they were more likely to contact a drug safety department with questions. The most preferred communication methods were websites/online forums (39%), email (27%), and telephone (25%). Learning about drug safety departments elevates consumers' confidence in manufacturers' safety efforts and establishes potential for patients to engage in increased self-monitoring and reporting. Study results reveal potentially actionable insights for the industry across patient and physician programs and communications.

The relationship between patient safety climate and occupational safety climate in healthcare - A multi-level investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Pousette, Anders; Larsman, Pernilla; Eklöf, Mats; Törner, Marianne

2017-06-01

Patient safety climate/culture is attracting increasing research interest, but there is little research on its relation with organizational climates regarding other target domains. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between patient safety climate and occupational safety climate in healthcare. The climates were assessed using two questionnaires: Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture and Nordic Occupational Safety Climate Questionnaire. The final sample consisted of 1154 nurses, 886 assistant nurses, and 324 physicians, organized in 150 work units, within hospitals (117units), primary healthcare (5units) and elderly care (28units) in western Sweden, which represented 56% of the original sample contacted. Within each type of safety climate, two global dimensions were confirmed in a higher order factor analysis; one with an external focus relative the own unit, and one with an internal focus. Two methods were used to estimate the covariation between the global climate dimensions, in order to minimize the influence of bias from common method variance. First multilevel analysis was used for partitioning variances and covariances in a within unit part (individual level) and a between unit part (unit level). Second, a split sample technique was used to calculate unit level correlations based on aggregated observations from different respondents. Both methods showed associations similar in strength between the patient safety climate and the occupational safety climate domains. The results indicated that patient safety climate and occupational safety climate are strongly positively related at the unit level, and that the same organizational processes may be important for the development of both types of organizational climate. Safety improvement interventions should not be separated in different organizational processes, but be planned so that both patient safety and staff safety are considered concomitantly. Copyright © 2017 National Safety

Recommended nuclear criticality safety experiments in support of the safe transportation of fissile material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tollefson, D.A.; Elliott, E.P.; Dyer, H.R.; Thompson, S.A.

1993-01-01

Validation of computer codes and nuclear data (cross-section) libraries using benchmark quality critical (or certain subcritical) experiments is an essential part of a nuclear criticality safety evaluation. The validation results establish the credibility of the calculational tools for use in evaluating a particular application. Validation of the calculational tools is addressed in several American National Standards Institute/American Nuclear Society (ANSI/ANS) standards, with ANSI/ANS-8.1 being the most relevant. Documentation of the validation is a required part of all safety analyses involving significant quantities of fissile materials. In the case of transportation of fissile materials, the safety analysis report for packaging (SARP) must contain a thorough discussion of benchmark experiments, detailing how the experiments relate to the significant packaging and contents materials (fissile, moderating, neutron absorbing) within the package. The experiments recommended in this paper are needed to address certain areas related to transportation of unirradiated fissile materials in drum-type containers (packagings) for which current data are inadequate or are lacking

The medical student as a patient: attitudes towards involvement in the quality and safety of health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Rachel E; Joshi, Devavrata; Patel, Krishan; Briggs, M; Vincent, Charles A

2013-10-01

In recent years, factors that affect patients' willingness and ability to participate in safety-relevant behaviours have been investigated. However, how trained healthcare professionals or medical students would feel participating in safety-relevant behaviours as a patient in hospital remains largely unexplored. To investigate medical students' willingness to participate in behaviours related to the quality and safety of their health care. A cross-sectional exploratory study using a survey that addressed willingness to participate in different behaviours recommended by current patient safety initiatives. Three types of interactional behaviours (asking factual or challenging questions, notifying doctors or nurses of errors/problems) and three non-interactional behaviours (choosing a hospital based on the safety record, bringing medicines and a list of allergies into hospital, and reporting an error to a national reporting system) were assessed. One hundred and seventy-nine medical students from an inner city London teaching hospital participated in the study. Students' willingness to participate was affected (P interactional behaviours) whether the patient was engaging in the specific action with a doctor or nurse. Students were least willing to ask 'challenging' questions to doctors and nurses and to report errors to a national reporting system. Doctors' and nurses' encouragement appeared to increase self-reported willingness to participate in behaviours where baseline willingness was low. Similar to research on lay patient populations; medical students do not view involvement in safety-related behaviours equally. Interventions should be tailored at encouraging students to participate in behaviours they are less inclined to take on an active role in. Future research is required to examine students' motivations for participation in this important but heavily under-researched area. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Innovative training for enhancing patient safety. Safety culture and integrated concepts].

Science.gov (United States)

Rall, M; Schaedle, B; Zieger, J; Naef, W; Weinlich, M

2002-11-01

Patient safety is determined by the performance safety of the medical team. Errors in medicine are amongst the leading causes of death of hospitalized patients. These numbers call for action. Backgrounds, methods and new forms of training are introduced in this article. Concepts from safety research are transformed to the field of emergency medical treatment. Strategies from realistic patient simulator training sessions and innovative training concepts are discussed. The reasons for the high numbers of errors in medicine are not due to a lack of medical knowledge, but due to human factors and organisational circumstances. A first step towards an improved patient safety is to accept this. We always need to be prepared that errors will occur. A next step would be to separate "error" from guilt (culture of blame) allowing for a real analysis of accidents and establishment of meaningful incident reporting systems. Concepts with a good success record from aviation like "crew resource management" (CRM) training have been adapted my medicine and are ready to use. These concepts require theoretical education as well as practical training. Innovative team training sessions using realistic patient simulator systems with video taping (for self reflexion) and interactive debriefing following the sessions are very promising. As the need to reduce error rates in medicine is very high and the reasons, methods and training concepts are known, we are urged to implement these new training concepts widely and consequently. To err is human - not to counteract it is not.

Natalizumab treatment for multiple sclerosis: updated recommendations for patient selection and monitoring

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kappos, Ludwig; Bates, David; Edan, Gilles

2011-01-01

Natalizumab, a highly specific α4-integrin antagonist, is approved for treatment of patients with active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). It is generally recommended for individuals who have not responded to a currently available first-line disease-modifying therapy or who have very......, based on additional long-term follow-up of clinical studies and post-marketing observations, including appropriate patient selection and management recommendations.......Natalizumab, a highly specific α4-integrin antagonist, is approved for treatment of patients with active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). It is generally recommended for individuals who have not responded to a currently available first-line disease-modifying therapy or who have very...... active disease. The expected benefits of natalizumab treatment have to be weighed against risks, especially the rare but serious adverse event of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. In this Review, we revisit and update previous recommendations on natalizumab for treatment of patients with RRMS...

Characteristics of attitude and recommendation of oncologists toward exercise in South Korea: a cross sectional survey study.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Ji-Hye; Oh, Minsuk; Yoon, Yong Jin; Lee, Chul Won; Jones, Lee W; Kim, Seung Il; Kim, Nam Kyu; Jeon, Justin Y

2015-04-10

The purpose of the present study was to examine 1) characteristics and attitudes of oncologists toward exercise and toward recommending exercise to their patients, 2) association among oncologists' own physical activity levels, exercise recommendations, and their attitudes toward recommending exercise. A total of 167 oncologists participated in this survey study (41 surgeons, 78 medical oncologists, 25 radiation oncologists, and 21 others). Most oncologists included in the study treat more than one type of cancer, including colorectal, gastric, breast, lung, and liver cancer. To analyze the data, the one-way ANOVA, and t-test were used. All data were indicated for mean, SD, and proportions. Most oncologists agreed that exercise is beneficial (72.8%) and important (69.6%), but only 39.2% of them agreed that exercise is safe, and only 7.2% believed that cancer patients manage to exercise during cancer treatment. Forty-six percentage of the surveyed oncologists recommended exercise to their patients during the past month. The average amount of participation in physical activity by oncologists who participated in the study was 139.5 ± 120.3 min per week, and 11.4% of the study participants met the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines. Oncologists' own physical activity levels were associated with their attitudes toward recommending exercise. Belief in the benefits of exercise in the performance of daily tasks, improvement of mental health, and the attenuation of physical decline from treatment were the three most prevalent reasons why oncologists recommend exercise to their patients. Barriers to recommending exercise to patients included lack of time, unclear exercise recommendations, and the safety of patients. Oncologists have favorable attitudes toward exercise and toward recommending exercise to their patients during treatment. However, they also experience barriers to recommending exercise, including lack of time, unclear exercise guidelines

Validating the Danish adaptation of the World Health Organization's International Classification for Patient Safety classification of patient safety incident types

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Kim Lyngby; Thommesen, Jacob; Andersen, Henning Boje

2013-01-01

Objectives Validation of a Danish patient safety incident classification adapted from the World Health Organizaton's International Classification for Patient Safety (ICPS-WHO). Design Thirty-three hospital safety management experts classified 58 safety incident cases selected to represent all types.......513 (range: 0.193–0.804). Kappa and ICC showed high correlation (r = 0.99). An inverse correlation was found between the prevalence of type and inter-rater reliability. Results are discussed according to four factors known to determine the inter-rater agreement: skill and motivation of raters; clarity...

Using safety crosses for patient self-reflection.

Science.gov (United States)

Silverton, Sarah

The Productive Mental Health Ward programme has been developed to improve efficiency and safety in the NHS. Patients in a medium-secure mental health unit used patient safety crosses as a tool for self-reflection as part of their recovery journey. This article describes how the project was set up as well as initial findings.

An evidence-based recommendation on bed head elevation for mechanically ventilated patients

OpenAIRE

Ni?l-Weise, Barbara S; Gastmeier, Petra; Kola, Axel; Vonberg, Ralf P; Wille, Jan C; van den Broek, Peterhans J

2011-01-01

Introduction A semi-upright position in ventilated patients is recommended to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and is one of the components in the Ventilator Bundle of the Institute for Health Care Improvement. This recommendation, however, is not an evidence-based one. Methods A systematic review on the benefits and disadvantages of semi-upright position in ventilated patients was done according to PRISMA guidelines. Then a European expert panel developed a recommendation based ...

Compliance with recommended care at trauma centers: association with patient outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Shafi, Shahid; Barnes, Sunni A; Rayan, Nadine; Kudyakov, Rustam; Foreman, Michael; Cryer, H Gil; Alam, Hasan B; Hoff, William; Holcomb, John

2014-08-01

State health departments and the American College of Surgeons focus on the availability of optimal resources to designate hospitals as trauma centers, with little emphasis on actual delivery of care. There is no systematic information on clinical practices at designated trauma centers. The objective of this study was to measure compliance with 22 commonly recommended clinical practices at trauma centers and its association with in-hospital mortality. This retrospective observational study was conducted at 5 Level I trauma centers across the country. Participants were adult patients with moderate to severe injuries (n = 3,867). The association between compliance with 22 commonly recommended clinical practices and in-hospital mortality was measured after adjusting for patient demographics and injuries and their severity. Compliance with individual clinical practices ranged from as low as 12% to as high as 94%. After adjusting for patient demographics and injury severity, each 10% increase in compliance with recommended care was associated with a 14% reduction in the risk of death. Patients who received all recommended care were 58% less likely to die (odds ratio = 0.42; 95% CI, 0.28-0.62) compared with those who did not. Compliance with commonly recommended clinical practices remains suboptimal at designated trauma centers. Improved adoption of these practices can reduce mortality. Copyright © 2014 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Knowledge Representation in Patient Safety Reporting: An Ontological Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Chen

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The current development of patient safety reporting systems is criticized for loss of information and low data quality due to the lack of a uniformed domain knowledge base and text processing functionality. To improve patient safety reporting, the present paper suggests an ontological representation of patient safety knowledge. Design/methodology/approach: We propose a framework for constructing an ontological knowledge base of patient safety. The present paper describes our design, implementation, and evaluation of the ontology at its initial stage. Findings: We describe the design and initial outcomes of the ontology implementation. The evaluation results demonstrate the clinical validity of the ontology by a self-developed survey measurement. Research limitations: The proposed ontology was developed and evaluated using a small number of information sources. Presently, US data are used, but they are not essential for the ultimate structure of the ontology. Practical implications: The goal of improving patient safety can be aided through investigating patient safety reports and providing actionable knowledge to clinical practitioners. As such, constructing a domain specific ontology for patient safety reports serves as a cornerstone in information collection and text mining methods. Originality/value: The use of ontologies provides abstracted representation of semantic information and enables a wealth of applications in a reporting system. Therefore, constructing such a knowledge base is recognized as a high priority in health care.

77 FR 25179 - Patient Safety Organizations: Expired Listing for Medkinetics, LLC

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-27

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety... Medkinetics, LLC of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act) authorizes the listing of PSOs, which are entities or component...

A Quality Model to Select Patients in Cupping Therapy Clinics: A New Tool for Ensuring Safety in Clinical Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Aboushanab, Tamer; AlSanad, Saud

2018-06-08

Cupping therapy is a popular treatment in various countries and regions, including Saudi Arabia. Cupping therapy is regulated in Saudi Arabia by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), Ministry of Health. The authors recommend that this quality model for selecting patients in cupping clinics - first version (QMSPCC-1) - be used routinely as part of clinical practice and quality management in cupping clinics. The aim of the quality model is to ensure the safety of patients and to introduce and facilitate quality and auditing processes in cupping therapy clinics. Clinical evaluation of this tool is recommended. Continued development, re-evaluation and reassessment of this tool are important. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Patient-reported safety incidents in older patients with long-term conditions: a large cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Panagioti, Maria; Blakeman, Thomas; Hann, Mark; Bower, Peter

2017-05-30

Increasing evidence suggests that patient safety is a serious concern for older patients with long-term conditions. Despite this, there is a lack of research on safety incidents encountered by this patient group. In this study, we sought to examine patient reports of safety incidents and factors associated with reports of safety incidents in older patients with long-term conditions. The baseline cross-sectional data from a longitudinal cohort study were analysed. Older patients (n=3378 aged 65 years and over) with a long-term condition registered in general practices were included in the study. The main outcome was patient-reported safety incidents including availability and appropriateness of medical tests and prescription of wrong types or doses of medication. Binary univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were undertaken to examine factors associated with patient-reported safety incidents. Safety incidents were reported by 11% of the patients. Four factors were significantly associated with patient-reported safety incidents in multivariate analyses. The experience of multiple long-term conditions (OR=1.09, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.13), a probable diagnosis of depression (OR=1.36, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.74) and greater relational continuity of care (OR=1.28, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.52) were associated with increased odds for patient-reported safety incidents. Perceived greater support and involvement in self-management was associated with lower odds for patient-reported safety incidents (OR=0.95, 95% CI 0.93 to 0.97). We found that older patients with multimorbidity and depression are more likely to report experiences of patient safety incidents. Improving perceived support and involvement of patients in their care may help prevent patient-reported safety incidents. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Training and Action for Patient Safety: Embedding Interprofessional Education for Patient Safety within an Improvement Methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Beverley L.; Lawton, Rebecca; Armitage, Gerry; Bibby, John; Wright, John

2012-01-01

Introduction: Despite an explosion of interest in improving safety and reducing error in health care, one important aspect of patient safety that has received little attention is a systematic approach to education and training for the whole health care workforce. This article describes an evaluation of an innovative multiprofessional, team-based…

Healthcare professionals’ views of feedback on patient safety culture assessment.

OpenAIRE

Zwijnenberg, N.C.; Hendriks, M.; Hoogervorst-Schilp, J.; Wagner, C.

2016-01-01

Background: By assessing patient safety culture, healthcare providers can identify areas for improvement in patient safety culture. To achieve this, these assessment outcomes have to be relevant and presented clearly. The aim of our study was to explore healthcare professionals’ views on the feedback of a patient safety culture assessment. Methods: Twenty four hospitals participated in a patient safety culture assessment in 2012. Hospital departments received feedback in a report and on a web...

Recommendations for safer radiotherapy: what’s the message?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dunscombe, Peter, E-mail: peter.dunscombe@albertahealthservices.ca [Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB (Canada)

2012-09-28

Radiotherapy, with close to a million courses delivered per year in North America, is a very safe and effective intervention for a devastating disease. However, although rare, several deeply regrettable incidents have occurred in radiotherapy and have rightly been the subject of considerable public interest. Partly in response to reports of these incidents a variety of authoritative organizations across the globe has harnessed the expertise amongst their members in attempts to identify the measures that will make radiotherapy safer. While the intentions of all these organizations are clearly good it is challenging for the health care providers in the clinic to know where to start with so much advice coming from so many directions. Through a mapping exercise we have identified commonalities between recommendations made in seven authoritative documents and identified those issues most frequently cited. The documents reviewed contain a total of 117 recommendations. Using the 37 recommendations in “Towards Safer Radiotherapy” as the initial base layer, recommendations in the other documents were mapped, adding to the base layer to accommodate all the recommendations from the additional six documents as necessary. This mapping exercise resulted in the distillation of the original 117 recommendations down to 61 unique recommendations. Twelve topics were identified in three or more of the documents as being pertinent to the improvement of patient safety in radiotherapy. They are, in order of most to least cited: training, staffing, documentation, incident learning, communication, check lists, quality control and preventive maintenance, dosimetric audit, accreditation, minimizing interruptions, prospective risk assessment, and safety culture. This analysis provides guidance for the selection of those activities most likely to enhance safety and quality in radiotherapy based on the frequency of citation in selected recent authoritative literature.

Recommendations for safer radiotherapy: what’s the message?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunscombe, Peter

2012-01-01

Radiotherapy, with close to a million courses delivered per year in North America, is a very safe and effective intervention for a devastating disease. However, although rare, several deeply regrettable incidents have occurred in radiotherapy and have rightly been the subject of considerable public interest. Partly in response to reports of these incidents a variety of authoritative organizations across the globe has harnessed the expertise amongst their members in attempts to identify the measures that will make radiotherapy safer. While the intentions of all these organizations are clearly good it is challenging for the health care providers in the clinic to know where to start with so much advice coming from so many directions. Through a mapping exercise we have identified commonalities between recommendations made in seven authoritative documents and identified those issues most frequently cited. The documents reviewed contain a total of 117 recommendations. Using the 37 recommendations in “Towards Safer Radiotherapy” as the initial base layer, recommendations in the other documents were mapped, adding to the base layer to accommodate all the recommendations from the additional six documents as necessary. This mapping exercise resulted in the distillation of the original 117 recommendations down to 61 unique recommendations. Twelve topics were identified in three or more of the documents as being pertinent to the improvement of patient safety in radiotherapy. They are, in order of most to least cited: training, staffing, documentation, incident learning, communication, check lists, quality control and preventive maintenance, dosimetric audit, accreditation, minimizing interruptions, prospective risk assessment, and safety culture. This analysis provides guidance for the selection of those activities most likely to enhance safety and quality in radiotherapy based on the frequency of citation in selected recent authoritative literature.

Recommendations for safer radiotherapy: what’s the message?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter eDunscombe

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Radiotherapy, with close to a million courses delivered per year in North America, is a very safe and effective intervention for a devastating disease. However, although rare, several deeply regrettable incidents have occurred in radiotherapy and have rightly been the subject of considerable public interest. Partly in response to reports of these incidents a variety of authoritative organizations across the globe has harnessed the expertise amongst their members in attempts to identify the measures that will make radiotherapy safer. While the intentions of all these organizations are clearly good it is challenging for the health care providers in the clinic to know where to start with so much advice coming from so many directions. Through a mapping exercise we have identified commonalities between recommendations made in seven authoritative documents and identified those issues most frequently cited. The documents reviewed contain a total of 117 recommendations. Using the 37 recommendations in Towards Safer Radiotherapy as the initial base layer, recommendations in the other documents were mapped, adding to the base layer to accommodate all the recommendations from the additional six documents as necessary. This mapping exercise resulted in the distillation of the original 117 recommendations down to 61 unique recommendations. Twelve topics were identified in three or more of the documents as being pertinent to the improvement of patient safety in radiotherapy. They are, in order of most to least cited: training, staffing, documentation, incident learning, communication, check lists, quality control and preventive maintenance, dosimetric audit, accreditation, minimizing interruptions, prospective risk assessment and safety culture. This analysis provides guidance for the selection of those activities most likely to enhance safety and quality in radiotherapy based on the frequency of citation in selected recent authoritative literature.

Patient Safety Culture Survey in Pediatric Complex Care Settings: A Factor Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hessels, Amanda J; Murray, Meghan; Cohen, Bevin; Larson, Elaine L

2017-04-19

Children with complex medical needs are increasing in number and demanding the services of pediatric long-term care facilities (pLTC), which require a focus on patient safety culture (PSC). However, no tool to measure PSC has been tested in this unique hybrid acute care-residential setting. The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture tool slightly modified for use in the pLTC setting. Factor analyses were performed on data collected from 239 staff at 3 pLTC in 2012. Items were screened by principal axis factoring, and the original structure was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to identify the best model fit for the pLTC data, and factor reliability was assessed by Cronbach alpha. The extracted, rotated factor solution suggested items in 4 (staffing, nonpunitive response to mistakes, communication openness, and organizational learning) of the original 12 dimensions may not be a good fit for this population. Nevertheless, in the pLTC setting, both the original and the modified factor solutions demonstrated similar reliabilities to the published consistencies of the survey when tested in adult nursing homes and the items factored nearly identically as theorized. This study demonstrates that the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture with minimal modification may be an appropriate instrument to measure PSC in pLTC settings. Additional psychometric testing is recommended to further validate the use of this instrument in this setting, including examining the relationship to safety outcomes. Increased use will yield data for benchmarking purposes across these specialized settings to inform frontline workers and organizational leaders of areas of strength and opportunity for improvement.

Improving patient safety: patient-focused, high-reliability team training.

Science.gov (United States)

McKeon, Leslie M; Cunningham, Patricia D; Oswaks, Jill S Detty

2009-01-01

Healthcare systems are recognizing "human factor" flaws that result in adverse outcomes. Nurses work around system failures, although increasing healthcare complexity makes this harder to do without risk of error. Aviation and military organizations achieve ultrasafe outcomes through high-reliability practice. We describe how reliability principles were used to teach nurses to improve patient safety at the front line of care. Outcomes include safety-oriented, teamwork communication competency; reflections on safety culture and clinical leadership are discussed.

Survivorship Care Plan Information Needs: Perspectives of Safety-Net Breast Cancer Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Nancy J; Napoles, Tessa M; Banks, Priscilla J; Orenstein, Fern S; Luce, Judith A; Joseph, Galen

2016-01-01

Despite the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) 2005 recommendation, few care organizations have instituted standard survivorship care plans (SCPs). Low health literacy and low English proficiency are important factors to consider in SCP development. Our study aimed to identify information needs and survivorship care plan preferences of low literacy, multi-lingual patients to support the transition from oncology to primary care and ongoing learning in survivorship. We conducted focus groups in five languages with African American, Latina, Russian, Filipina, White, and Chinese medically underserved breast cancer patients. Topics explored included the transition to primary care, access to information, knowledge of treatment history, and perspectives on SCPs. Analysis of focus group data identified three themes: 1) the need for information and education on the transition between "active treatment" and "survivorship"; 2) information needed (and often not obtained) from providers; and 3) perspectives on SCP content and delivery. Our data point to the need to develop a process as well as written information for medically underserved breast cancer patients. An SCP document will not replace direct communication with providers about treatment, symptom management and transition, a communication that is missing in participating safety-net patients' experiences of cancer care. Women turned to peer support and community-based organizations in the absence of information from providers. "Clear and effective" communication of survivorship care for safety-net patients requires dedicated staff trained to address wide-ranging information needs and uncertainties.

The sociotechnical configuration of the problem of Patient Safety

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Danholt, Peter

2010-01-01

Abstract. This paper presents and discusses two approaches to “the sociotechnical”, one coming from the Tavistock tradition and the other from actor network theory. These two differ in important ways and from the latter it follows that what patient safety means must be scrutinized and unpacked....... The paper thus rudimentarily discusses central contributions to the problematization of patient safety. Last it is argued that research that provide data on the processes of medical interventions where events, decisions and entities become transformed through their interactions is needed in order to further...... nuance the problem of patient safety. Keywords. Sociotechnical, patient safety, actor network theory, adverse events....

Patient safety in undergraduate radiography curricula: A European perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

England, A.; Azevedo, K.B.; Bezzina, P.; Henner, A.; McNulty, J.P.

2016-01-01

Purpose: To establish an understanding of patient safety within radiography education across Europe by surveying higher education institutions registered as affiliate members of the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS). Method: An online survey was developed to ascertain data on: programme type, patient safety definitions, relevant safety topics, specific areas taught, teaching and assessment methods, levels of teaching and curriculum drivers. Responses were identifiable in terms of educational institution and country. All 54 affiliated educational institutions were invited to participate. Descriptive and thematic analyses are reported. Results: A response rate of 61.1% (n = 33) was achieved from educational institutions representing 19 countries. Patient safety topics appear to be extremely well covered across curricula, however, topics including radiation protection and optimisation were not reported as being taught at an ‘advanced level’ by five and twelve respondents, respectively. Respondents identified the clinical department as the location of most patient safety-related teaching. Conclusions: Patient safety topics are deeply embedded within radiography curricula across Europe. Variations exist in terms of individual safety topics including, teaching and assessment methods, and the depth in which subjects are taught. Results from this study provide a baseline for assessing developments in curricula and can also serve as a benchmark for comparisons. - Highlights: • First European report on patient safety (PS). • PS deeply embedded within training curricula. • Terms and definitions largely consistent. • Some variety in the delivery and assessment methods. • Report provides baseline and opportunities for comparisons.

The impact of health information technology on patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Alotaibi, Yasser K; Federico, Frank

2017-12-01

Since the original Institute of Medicine (IOM) report was published there has been an accelerated development and adoption of health information technology with varying degrees of evidence about the impact of health information technology on patient safety.  This article is intended to review the current available scientific evidence on the impact of different health information technologies on improving patient safety outcomes. We conclude that health information technology improves patient's safety by reducing medication errors, reducing adverse drug reactions, and improving compliance to practice guidelines. There should be no doubt that health information technology is an important tool for improving healthcare quality and safety. Healthcare organizations need to be selective in which technology to invest in, as literature shows that some technologies have limited evidence in improving patient safety outcomes.

76 FR 60495 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Relinquishment From Illinois PSO

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-29

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety... voluntary relinquishment from the Illinois PSO of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act), Public Law 109-41, 42 U.S.C. 299b...

Towards an international classification for patient safety : the conceptual framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sherman, H.; Castro, G.; Fletcher, M.; Hatlie, M.; Hibbert, P.; Jakob, R.; Koss, R.; Lewalle, P.; Loeb, J.; Perneger, Th.; Runciman, W.; Thomson, R.; Schaaf, van der T.W.; Virtanen, M.

2009-01-01

Global advances in patient safety have been hampered by the lack of a uniform classification of patient safety concepts. This is a significant barrier to developing strategies to reduce risk, performing evidence-based research and evaluating existing healthcare policies relevant to patient safety.

Implementing Protocols to Improve Patient Safety in the Medical Imaging Department.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrizales, Gwen; Clark, Kevin R

2015-01-01

Patient safety is a focal point in healthcare because of recent changes issued by CMS. Hospital reimbursement rates have fallen, and these reimbursement rates are governed by CMS mandates regarding patient safety procedures. Reimbursement changes are reflected in the National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) administered annually by The Joint Commission. Medical imaging departments have multiple areas of patient safety concerns including effective handoff communication, proper patient identification, and safe medication/contrast administration. This literature review examines those areas of patient safety within the medical imaging department and reveals the need for continued protocol and policy changes to keep patients safe.

2011 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards. The effect of a novel Housestaff Quality Council on quality and patient safety. Innovation in patient safety and quality at the local level.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleischut, Peter M; Faggiani, Susan L; Evans, Adam S; Brenner, Samantha; Liebowitz, Richard S; Forese, Laura; Kerr, Gregory E; Lazar, Eliot J

2012-07-01

In 2008 New York-Presbyterian Hospital (NYP)/Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York City, the largest not-for-profit, nonsectarian hospital in the United States, created and implemented a novel approach--the Housestaff Quality Council (HQC)--to engaging house-staff in quality and patient safety activities. The HQC represented an innovative collaboration between the housestaff, the Department of Anesthesiology, the Division of Quality and Patient Safety, the Office of Graduate Medical Education, and senior leadership. As key managers of patient care, the housestaff sought to become involved in the quality and patient safety decision- and policy-making processes at the hospital. Its members were determined to decrease or minimize adverse events by facilitating multimodal communication, ensuring smart work flow, and measuring outcomes to determine best practices. The HQC, which also included frontline hospital staff or managers from areas such as nursing, pharmacy, and information technology, aligned its initiatives with those of the division of quality and patient safety and embarked on two projects--medication reconciliation and use of the electronic medical record. More than three years later, the resulting improvements have been sustained and three new projects--hand hygiene, central line-associated bloodstream infections, and patient handoffs--have been initiated. The HQC model is highly replicable at other teaching institutions as a complementary approach to their other quality and patient safety initiatives. However, the ability to sustain positive momentum is dependent on the ability of residents to invest time and effort in the face of a demanding residency training schedule and focus on specialty-specific clinical and research activities.

Safety assessment and verification for nuclear power plants. Safety guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

This publication supports the Safety Requirements on the Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design. This Safety Guide was prepared on the basis of a systematic review of all the relevant publications including the Safety Fundamentals, Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design, current and ongoing revisions of other Safety Guides, INSAG reports and other publications that have addressed the safety of nuclear power plants. This Safety Guide also provides guidance for Contracting Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety in meeting their obligations under Article 14 on Assessment and Verification of Safety. The Safety Requirements publication entitled Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design states that a comprehensive safety assessment and an independent verification of the safety assessment shall be carried out before the design is submitted to the regulatory body. This publication provides guidance on how this requirement should be met. This Safety Guide provides recommendations to designers for carrying out a safety assessment during the initial design process and design modifications, as well as to the operating organization in carrying out independent verification of the safety assessment of new nuclear power plants with a new or already existing design. The recommendations for performing a safety assessment are suitable also as guidance for the safety review of an existing plant. The objective of reviewing existing plants against current standards and practices is to determine whether there are any deviations which would have an impact on plant safety. The methods and the recommendations of this Safety Guide can also be used by regulatory bodies for the conduct of the regulatory review and assessment. Although most recommendations of this Safety Guide are general and applicable to all types of nuclear reactors, some specific recommendations and examples apply mostly to water cooled reactors. Terms such as 'safety assessment', 'safety analysis' and 'independent

Reducing risk of overdose with midazolam injection in adults: an evaluation of change in clinical practice to improve patient safety in England.

Science.gov (United States)

Flood, Chris; Matthew, Linda; Marsh, Rachel; Patel, Bhavesh; Mansaray, Mariama; Lamont, Tara

2015-02-01

This study sought to evaluate potential reductions in risk associated with midazolam injection, a sedating medication, following a UK National Patient Safety Alert. This alert, 'Reducing risk of overdose with midazolam injection in adults', was sent to all National Health Service organizations as a Rapid Response Report detailing actions services should take to minimize risks. To evaluate any potential changes arising from this alert, a number of data sources were explored including reported incidents to a national reporting system for health care error, clinician survey and audit data, pharmaceutical purchasing patterns and feedback from National Health Service managers. Prior to the Rapid Response Report, 498 incidents were received by the National Patient Safety Agency including three deaths. Post-implementation of the Rapid Response Report (June 2009), no incidents resulting in death or severe harm had been received. All organizations reported having completed the Rapid Response Report actions. Purchase and use of risk-prone, high-strength sedating midazolam by health care organizations decreased significantly as did the increased use of safer, lower strength doses (as recommended in the Rapid Response Report). Organizations can achieve safer medication practices, better knowledge, awareness and implementation of national safer practice recommendations. Risks from inadvertent overdose of midazolam injection were reduced post-implementation of national recommendations. Ongoing monitoring of this particular adverse event will be required with a sustained patient safety message to health services to maintain awareness of the issue and reduction in the number of midazolam-related errors. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Explaining Ethnic Disparities in Patient Safety: A Qualitative Analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Suurmond, Jeanine; Uiters, Ellen; de Bruijne, Martine C.; Stronks, Karien; Essink-Bot, Marie-Louise

2010-01-01

Objectives. We explored characteristics of in-hospital care and treatment of immigrant patients to better understand the processes underlying ethnic disparities in patient safety. Methods. We conducted semistructured interviews with care providers regarding patient safety events involving immigrant

Focus on patient safety all day, every day.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-01

Case managers may think their job doesn't involve patient safety, but they promote safety by ensuring a safe discharge and are in a position to see safety breaches and mistakes all over the hospital. CMS includes discharge planning in its worksheets for surveyors to use to assess a hospital's compliance with Medicare Conditions of Participation. Because they work with patients from admission to discharge, case managers know which clinicians are competent, those who are not, and may observe safety breaches like failure to wash hands and leaving the catheter in too long. Case managers should spend enough time with their patients to know their situations at home and their support systems and use the information to create workable and safe discharge plans. Hospitals should create an environment and a culture where case managers and other clinicians feel comfortable speaking up when they see safety breaches.

75 FR 57477 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Delisting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-21

... Organizations: Voluntary Delisting AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS. ACTION... Creighton Center for Health Services Research and Patient Safety (CHRP) Patient Safety Organization (PSO... the listing of PSOs, which are entities or component organizations whose mission and primary activity...

Expediting Clinician Adoption of Safety Practices: The UCSF Venous Access Patient Safety Interdisciplinary Education Project

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Donaldson, Nancy E; Plank, Rosemary K; Williamson, Ann; Pearl, Jeffrey; Kellogg, Jerry; Ryder, Marcia

2005-01-01

...) Venous Access Device (VAD) Patient Safety Interdisciplinary Education Project was to develop a 30-hour/one clinical academic unit VAD patient safety course with the aim of expediting clinician adoption of critical concepts...

Adherence to Dietary Recommendations in Maintenance Phase Kidney Transplant Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Ichimaru, N; Nakazawa, S; Yamanaka, K; Kakuta, Y; Abe, T; Kaimori, J-Y; Imamura, R; Nonomura, N; Takahara, S

2016-04-01

Current adherence to dietary recommendations for chronic kidney disease was evaluated in kidney transplant patients in the maintenance phase. A total of 268 maintenance phase kidney transplant patients were included in the study. Estimated daily intakes of oral protein and salt were calculated from 24-h urinary excretion of nitrogen and sodium, respectively. Dietary recommendations for chronic kidney disease, as issued in 2014 by the Japanese Society of Nephrology, were used as the basis for assessing diet. The study included 114 female patients and 154 male patients. The mean age, posttransplantation years, body mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and 24-h urinary excretion of protein were 56.3 years, 11.2 years, 22.0 kg/m(2), 42.6 mL/min/1.73 m(2), and 321 mg/d, respectively. Estimated daily protein and salt intakes were 0.98 ± 0.26 g/kg/d and 9.3 ± 3.9 g/d. Only 47 patients (17.5%) in the case of salt intake and 105 patients (39.2%) in the case of protein intake were within reference values. The 24-h urinary protein excretion of the daily salt intake-adherent group (adherence rate to dietary recommendations for chronic kidney disease in kidney transplant patients was low. The 24-h urinary protein excretion of the daily salt intake-adherent group was significantly less than that of the nonadherent group. Dietary therapy for these patients may have the potential to improve kidney graft function and survival. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Patient Education May Improve Perioperative Safety.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Haan, L.S.; Calsbeek, H; Wolff, André

2016-01-01

Importance: There is a growing interest in enabling ways for patients to participate in their own care to improve perioperative safety, but little is known about the effectiveness of interventions enhancing an active patient role. Objective: To evaluate the effect of patient participation on

[Does simulator-based team training improve patient safety?].

Science.gov (United States)

Trentzsch, H; Urban, B; Sandmeyer, B; Hammer, T; Strohm, P C; Lazarovici, M

2013-10-01

Patient safety became paramount in medicine as well as in emergency medicine after it was recognized that preventable, adverse events significantly contributed to morbidity and mortality during hospital stay. The underlying errors cannot usually be explained by medical technical inadequacies only but are more due to difficulties in the transition of theoretical knowledge into tasks under the conditions of clinical reality. Crew Resource Management and Human Factors which determine safety and efficiency of humans in complex situations are suitable to control such sources of error. Simulation significantly improved safety in high reliability organizations, such as the aerospace industry.Thus, simulator-based team training has also been proposed for medical areas. As such training is consuming in cost, time and human resources, the question of the cost-benefit ratio obviously arises. This review outlines the effects of simulator-based team training on patient safety. Such course formats are not only capable of creating awareness and improvements in safety culture but also improve technical team performance and emphasize team performance as a clinical competence. A few studies even indicated improvement of patient-centered outcome, such as a reduced rate of adverse events but further studies are required in this respect. In summary, simulator-based team training should be accepted as a suitable strategy to improve patient safety.

Identifying organizational cultures that promote patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Sara J; Falwell, Alyson; Gaba, David M; Meterko, Mark; Rosen, Amy; Hartmann, Christine W; Baker, Laurence

2009-01-01

Safety climate refers to shared perceptions of what an organization is like with regard to safety, whereas safety culture refers to employees' fundamental ideology and orientation and explains why safety is pursued in the manner exhibited within a particular organization. Although research has sought to identify opportunities for improving safety outcomes by studying patterns of variation in safety climate, few empirical studies have examined the impact of organizational characteristics such as culture on hospital safety climate. This study explored how aspects of general organizational culture relate to hospital patient safety climate. In a stratified sample of 92 U.S. hospitals, we sampled 100% of senior managers and physicians and 10% of other hospital workers. The Patient Safety Climate in Healthcare Organizations and the Zammuto and Krakower organizational culture surveys measured safety climate and group, entrepreneurial, hierarchical, and production orientation of hospitals' culture, respectively. We administered safety climate surveys to 18,361 personnel and organizational culture surveys to a 5,894 random subsample between March 2004 and May 2005. Secondary data came from the 2004 American Hospital Association Annual Hospital Survey and Dun & Bradstreet. Hierarchical linear regressions assessed relationships between organizational culture and safety climate measures. Aspects of general organizational culture were strongly related to safety climate. A higher level of group culture correlated with a higher level of safety climate, but more hierarchical culture was associated with lower safety climate. Aspects of organizational culture accounted for more than threefold improvement in measures of model fit compared with models with controls alone. A mix of culture types, emphasizing group culture, seemed optimal for safety climate. Safety climate and organizational culture are positively related. Results support strategies that promote group orientation and

Safety of American Heart Association-recommended minimum exercise for desmosomal mutation carriers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sawant, Abhishek C; Te Riele, Anneline S J M; Tichnell, Crystal; Murray, Brittney; Bhonsale, Aditya; Tandri, Harikrishna; Judge, Daniel P; Calkins, Hugh; James, Cynthia A

BACKGROUND: Endurance exercise is associated with adverse outcomes in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C). Exercise recommendations for family members remain undetermined. OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were to determine if (1) endurance exercise

Does lean management improve patient safety culture? An extensive evaluation of safety culture in a radiotherapy institute.

Science.gov (United States)

Simons, Pascale A M; Houben, Ruud; Vlayen, Annemie; Hellings, Johan; Pijls-Johannesma, Madelon; Marneffe, Wim; Vandijck, Dominique

2015-02-01

The importance of a safety culture to maximize safety is no longer questioned. However, achieving sustainable culture improvements are less evident. Evidence is growing for a multifaceted approach, where multiple safety interventions are combined. Lean management is such an integral approach to improve safety, quality and efficiency and therefore, could be expected to improve the safety culture. This paper presents the effects of lean management activities on the patient safety culture in a radiotherapy institute. Patient safety culture was evaluated over a three year period using triangulation of methodologies. Two surveys were distributed three times, workshops were performed twice, data from an incident reporting system (IRS) was monitored and results were explored using structured interviews with professionals. Averages, chi-square, logistical and multi-level regression were used for analysis. The workshops showed no changes in safety culture, whereas the surveys showed improvements on six out of twelve dimensions of safety climate. The intention to report incidents not reaching patient-level decreased in accordance with the decreasing number of reports in the IRS. However, the intention to take action in order to prevent future incidents improved (factorial survey presented β: 1.19 with p: 0.01). Due to increased problem solving and improvements in equipment, the number of incidents decreased. Although the intention to report incidents not reaching patient-level decreased, employees experienced sustained safety awareness and an increased intention to structurally improve. The patient safety culture improved due to the lean activities combined with an organizational restructure, and actual patient safety outcomes might have improved as well. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

75 FR 75471 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Delisting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-03

... Organizations: Voluntary Delisting AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HHS. ACTION: Notice of..., LLC of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement... or component organizations whose mission and primary activity is to conduct activities to improve...

75 FR 57048 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Delisting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-17

... Organizations: Voluntary Delisting AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS. ACTION... Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act), Public Law 109... the listing of PSOs, which are entities or component organizations whose mission and primary activity...

Croatian Recommendations for Dialysis of HIV-Positive Patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gulin Marijana

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV infection may be associated with renal impairment since about 0.4% of all HIV-positive patients develop end-stage renal disease. The share of patients with HIV infection in hemodialysis centers throughout the world ranges from 0.3% to as high as 38%. In Croatia, renal replacement therapy was needed by 1% of all the HIV-positive patients from 1985 until the end of 2014. Healthcare professionals (HP should be aware of the risks of occupational exposure to blood-borne infections in their daily work. Performing dialysis in HIV-positive patients increases the risk of exposure to HIV during the extracorporeal circulation of the infected blood. However, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP with effective antiretroviral drugs significantly reduces the risk of infection after occupational exposure. On behalf of the Croatian Society of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation, the authors of this paper have proposed recommendations for the management of HIVpositive patients on dialysis, which aim to prevent the transmission of HIV among patients and HPs. The important recommendations include the following: 1. when the need arises, it is necessary to provide HIV-positive patients with dialysis in the vicinity of their place of residence. 2. HIV-positive patients should be dialyzed with a separate hemodialysis machine in an isolated area. Alternatively, they can be dialyzed in an area for the hemodialysis of HCV-positive and/or HBVpositive patients. 3. Specialized and trained personnel should be provided during the hemodialysis procedure, together with strict compliance with the standard precautions for the prevention of blood-borne infections. 4. There should be a good and prompt cooperation with the National Referral Center for HIV infection.

42 CFR 3.206 - Confidentiality of patient safety work product.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Confidentiality of patient safety work product. 3... individually identifiable health information in such patient safety work product, the direct identifiers listed at 45 CFR 164.514(e)(2) have been removed. (5) Disclosure of nonidentifiable patient safety work...

Managing risk in healthcare: understanding your safety culture using the Manchester Patient Safety Framework (MaPSaF).

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Dianne

2009-03-01

To provide sufficient information about the Manchester Patient Safety Framework (MaPSaF) to allow healthcare professionals to assess its potential usefulness. The assessment of safety culture is an important aspect of risk management, and one in which there is increasing interest among healthcare organizations. Manchester Patient Safety Framework offers a theory-based framework for assessing safety culture, designed specifically for use in the NHS. The framework covers multiple dimensions of safety culture, and five levels of safety culture development. This allows the generation of a profile of an organization's safety culture in terms of areas of relative strength and challenge, which can be used to identify focus issues for change and improvement. Manchester Patient Safety Framework provides a useful method for engaging healthcare professionals in assessing and improving the safety culture in their organization, as part of a programme of risk management.

Frequency, Expected Effects, Obstacles, and Facilitators of Disclosure of Patient Safety Incidents: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ock, Minsu; Lim, So Yun; Jo, Min-Woo; Lee, Sang-Il

2017-03-01

We performed a systematic review to assess and aggregate the available evidence on the frequency, expected effects, obstacles, and facilitators of disclosure of patient safety incidents (DPSI). We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for this systematic review and searched PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library for English articles published between 1990 and 2014. Two authors independently conducted the title screening and abstract review. Ninety-nine articles were selected for full-text reviews. One author extracted the data and another verified them. There was considerable variation in the reported frequency of DPSI among medical professionals. The main expected effects of DPSI were decreased intention of the general public to file medical lawsuits and punish medical professionals, increased credibility of medical professionals, increased intention of patients to revisit and recommend physicians or hospitals, higher ratings of quality of care, and alleviation of feelings of guilt among medical professionals. The obstacles to DPSI were fear of medical lawsuits and punishment, fear of a damaged professional reputation among colleagues and patients, diminished patient trust, the complexity of the situation, and the absence of a patient safety culture. However, the factors facilitating DPSI included the creation of a safe environment for reporting patient safety incidents, as well as guidelines and education for DPSI. The reported frequency of the experience of the general public with DPSI was somewhat lower than the reported frequency of DPSI among medical professionals. Although we identified various expected effects of DPSI, more empirical evidence from real cases is required.

[Patient safety culture in Family practice residents of Galicia].

Science.gov (United States)

Portela Romero, Manuel; Bugarín González, Rosendo; Rodríguez Calvo, María Sol

To determine the views held by Family practice (FP) residents on the different dimensions of patient safety, in order to identify potential areas for improvement. A cross-sectional study. Seven FP of Galicia teaching units. 182 FP residents who completed the Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture questionnaire. The Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture questionnaire was chosen because it is translated, validated, and adapted to the Spanish model of Primary Care. The results were grouped into 12 composites assessed by the mentioned questionnaire. The study variables were the socio-demographic dimensions of the questionnaire, as well as occupational/professional variables: age, gender, year of residence, and teaching unit of FP of Galicia. The "Organisational learning" and "Teamwork" items were considered strong areas. However, the "Patient safety and quality issues", "Information exchange with other settings", and "Work pressure and pace" items were considered areas with significant potential for improvement. First-year residents obtained the best results and the fourth-year ones the worst. The results may indicate the need to include basic knowledge on patient safety in the teaching process of FP residents in order to increase and consolidate the fragile patient safety culture described in this study. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Safety coaches in radiology: decreasing human error and minimizing patient harm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dickerson, Julie M.; Adams, Janet M. [Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Radiology, MLC 5031, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Koch, Bernadette L.; Donnelly, Lane F. [Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Radiology, MLC 5031, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Goodfriend, Martha A. [Cincinnati Children' s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Quality Improvement, Cincinnati, OH (United States)

2010-09-15

Successful programs to improve patient safety require a component aimed at improving safety culture and environment, resulting in a reduced number of human errors that could lead to patient harm. Safety coaching provides peer accountability. It involves observing for safety behaviors and use of error prevention techniques and provides immediate feedback. For more than a decade, behavior-based safety coaching has been a successful strategy for reducing error within the context of occupational safety in industry. We describe the use of safety coaches in radiology. Safety coaches are an important component of our comprehensive patient safety program. (orig.)

Safety coaches in radiology: decreasing human error and minimizing patient harm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dickerson, Julie M.; Adams, Janet M.; Koch, Bernadette L.; Donnelly, Lane F.; Goodfriend, Martha A.

2010-01-01

Successful programs to improve patient safety require a component aimed at improving safety culture and environment, resulting in a reduced number of human errors that could lead to patient harm. Safety coaching provides peer accountability. It involves observing for safety behaviors and use of error prevention techniques and provides immediate feedback. For more than a decade, behavior-based safety coaching has been a successful strategy for reducing error within the context of occupational safety in industry. We describe the use of safety coaches in radiology. Safety coaches are an important component of our comprehensive patient safety program. (orig.)

Safety coaches in radiology: decreasing human error and minimizing patient harm.

Science.gov (United States)

Dickerson, Julie M; Koch, Bernadette L; Adams, Janet M; Goodfriend, Martha A; Donnelly, Lane F

2010-09-01

Successful programs to improve patient safety require a component aimed at improving safety culture and environment, resulting in a reduced number of human errors that could lead to patient harm. Safety coaching provides peer accountability. It involves observing for safety behaviors and use of error prevention techniques and provides immediate feedback. For more than a decade, behavior-based safety coaching has been a successful strategy for reducing error within the context of occupational safety in industry. We describe the use of safety coaches in radiology. Safety coaches are an important component of our comprehensive patient safety program.

Improving operating room safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Garrett Jill

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Despite the introduction of the Universal Protocol, patient safety in surgery remains a daily challenge in the operating room. This present study describes one community health system's efforts to improve operating room safety through human factors training and ultimately the development of a surgical checklist. Using a combination of formal training, local studies documenting operating room safety issues and peer to peer mentoring we were able to substantially change the culture of our operating room. Our efforts have prepared us for successfully implementing a standardized checklist to improve operating room safety throughout our entire system. Based on these findings we recommend a multimodal approach to improving operating room safety.

Evidence-based review, grade of recommendation, and suggested treatment recommendations for melasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nilendu Sarma

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Treatment of melasma is known to be less satisfactory, often incomplete, and relapse is frequent. Although many treatment options are available, they are either known to be unsafe on long-term use or their long-term safety profile is unknown. Patients often use various drugs, even topical steroid-based preparation without any medical supervision for long period of time, making the skin unsuitable for many of the drugs available. Thus, there has been gross disparity among the treating physician about what drugs and what regimen are best suitable for various categories of melasma patients and in different situations. With this background, numerous newer drugs, mostly combinations of some proprietary molecules or even unknown plant extracts, have flooded the market for the management of melasma. Information on efficacy or safety of these products are almost unknown. Studies on Asian people, especially Indian population, are far less commonly available. Therapeutic guideline for use on Indian patients with melasma is almost missing. Extrapolation of data from Caucasian people for use on Asian people may not be scientifically justifiable because Caucasian and Asian people are known to have inherent difference in their response as well as tolerance to the drugs used for melasma. With this background, we have extensively evaluated, following a strict, scientifically designed protocol, all the available studies on melasma management till May 2016 and prepared this document on level of evidence, grade of recommendation and suggested therapeutic guideline for melasma as per the method proposed by Oxford Centre of Evidence-Based Medicine. Various ethical, social, logical, regional, and economic issues in the context of Indian and similar populations were given due importance while preparing the suggested therapeutic recommendation.

Behavior and awareness of thyroid cancer patients in Korea having non-hospitalized low-dose radioiodine treatment with regard to radiation safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Seog Gyun; Paeng, Jin Chul; Eo, Jae Seon; Shim, Hye Kyung; Kang, Keon Wook; Chung, June Key; Lee, Myung Chul; Lee, Dong Soo [College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2010-12-15

With the recent increase in incidence of thyroid cancer, non-hospitalized low-dose (NH-LD) radioiodine treatment (RIT) has also increased rapidly. The radioactivity limit that is allowed to be administered without hospitalization depends on individual calculation, based partly on patients' behavior. In this study, Korean patients' behavior in relation to radiation safety in NHLD RIT was surveyed. A total of 218 patients who underwent NH-LD RIT of 1.1 GBq {sup 131}I in a single center were surveyed. The patients underwent RIT with a standard protocol and the survey was performed by interview when they visited subsequently for a whole-body scan. The survey questionnaire included three parts of questions: general information, behavior relating to isolation during RIT, and awareness of radiation safety. After administration of radioiodine, 40% of patients who returned home used mass transportation, and another 47% went home by taxi or in car driven by another person. Isolation at home was generally sufficient. However, 7% of patients did not stay in a separate room. Among the 218 patients, 34% did not go home and chose self-isolation away from home, mostly due to concerns about radiation safety of family members. However, the places were mostly public places, including hotels, resorts, and hospitals. About half of the patients replied that access to radiation safety information was not easy and their awareness of radiation safety was not satisfactory. As a result, 45% of patients wanted hospitalized RIT. In many countries, including Korea, RIT is continuously increasing. Considering the radiation safety of patients' family members or the public and the convenience of patients, the pretreatment education of patients should be enhanced. In addition, the hospitalization of patients having low-dose therapy is recommended to be seriously considered and expanded, with the expansion of dedicated treatment facilities

Behavior and awareness of thyroid cancer patients in Korea having non-hospitalized low-dose radioiodine treatment with regard to radiation safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seog Gyun; Paeng, Jin Chul; Eo, Jae Seon; Shim, Hye Kyung; Kang, Keon Wook; Chung, June Key; Lee, Myung Chul; Lee, Dong Soo

2010-01-01

With the recent increase in incidence of thyroid cancer, non-hospitalized low-dose (NH-LD) radioiodine treatment (RIT) has also increased rapidly. The radioactivity limit that is allowed to be administered without hospitalization depends on individual calculation, based partly on patients' behavior. In this study, Korean patients' behavior in relation to radiation safety in NHLD RIT was surveyed. A total of 218 patients who underwent NH-LD RIT of 1.1 GBq 131 I in a single center were surveyed. The patients underwent RIT with a standard protocol and the survey was performed by interview when they visited subsequently for a whole-body scan. The survey questionnaire included three parts of questions: general information, behavior relating to isolation during RIT, and awareness of radiation safety. After administration of radioiodine, 40% of patients who returned home used mass transportation, and another 47% went home by taxi or in car driven by another person. Isolation at home was generally sufficient. However, 7% of patients did not stay in a separate room. Among the 218 patients, 34% did not go home and chose self-isolation away from home, mostly due to concerns about radiation safety of family members. However, the places were mostly public places, including hotels, resorts, and hospitals. About half of the patients replied that access to radiation safety information was not easy and their awareness of radiation safety was not satisfactory. As a result, 45% of patients wanted hospitalized RIT. In many countries, including Korea, RIT is continuously increasing. Considering the radiation safety of patients' family members or the public and the convenience of patients, the pretreatment education of patients should be enhanced. In addition, the hospitalization of patients having low-dose therapy is recommended to be seriously considered and expanded, with the expansion of dedicated treatment facilities

Assessing patient safety culture in hospitals across countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wagner, C.; Smits, M.; Sorra, J.; Huang, C.C.

2013-01-01

Objective. It is believed that in order to reduce the number of adverse events, hospitals have to stimulate a more open culture and reflective attitude towards errors and patient safety. The objective is to examine similarities and differences in hospital patient safety culture in three countries:

Assessing patient safety culture in hospitals across countries.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wagner, C.; Smits, M.; Sorra, J.; Huang, C.C.

2013-01-01

Objective: It is believed that in order to reduce the number of adverse events, hospitals have to stimulate a more open culture and reflective attitude towards errors and patient safety. The objective is to examine similarities and differences in hospital patient safety culture in three countries:

Assessing patient safety culture in hospitals across countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wagner, C.; Smits, M.; Sorra, J.; Huang, C.C.

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: It is believed that in order to reduce the number of adverse events, hospitals have to stimulate a more open culture and reflective attitude towards errors and patient safety. The objective is to examine similarities and differences in hospital patient safety culture in three countries:

75 FR 63498 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Delisting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-15

... Healthcare Technology Foundation of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety and... notification from the ACCE Healthcare Technology Foundation, PSO number P0017, to voluntarily relinquish its status as a PSO. Accordingly, the ACCE Healthcare Technology Foundation was delisted effective at 12:00...

75 FR 75473 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Delisting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-03

... Organizations: Voluntary Delisting AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... entity of Harbor Medical, Inc., of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). The Patient Safety... the listing of PSOs, which are entities or component organizations whose mission and primary activity...

75 FR 75472 - Patient Safety Organizations: Voluntary Delisting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-03

... Organizations: Voluntary Delisting AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HHS. ACTION: Notice of.... Patient Safety Group (A Component of Helmet Fire, Inc. of its status as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO... the listing of PSOs, which are entities or component organizations whose mission and primary activity...

An evidence-based recommendation on bed head elevation for mechanically ventilated patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Niël-Weise, Barbara S; Gastmeier, Petra; Kola, Axel; Vonberg, Ralf P; Wille, Jan C; van den Broek, Peterhans J

2011-01-01

A semi-upright position in ventilated patients is recommended to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and is one of the components in the Ventilator Bundle of the Institute for Health Care Improvement. This recommendation, however, is not an evidence-based one. A systematic review on the benefits and disadvantages of semi-upright position in ventilated patients was done according to PRISMA guidelines. Then a European expert panel developed a recommendation based on the results of the systematic review and considerations beyond the scientific evidence in a three-round electronic Delphi procedure. Three trials (337 patients) were included in the review. The results showed that it was uncertain whether a 45° bed head elevation was effective or harmful with regard to the occurrence of clinically suspected VAP, microbiologically confirmed VAP, decubitus and mortality, and that it was unknown whether 45° elevation for 24 hours a day increased the risk for thromboembolism or hemodynamic instability. A group of 22 experts recommended elevating the head of the bed of mechanically ventilated patients to a 20 to 45° position and preferably to a ≥ 30° position as long as it does not pose risks or conflicts with other nursing tasks, medical interventions or patients' wishes. Although the review failed to prove clinical benefits of bed head elevation, experts prefer this position in ventilated patients. They made clear that the position of a ventilated patient in bed depended on many determinants. Therefore, given the scientific uncertainty about the benefits and harms of a semi-upright position, this position could only be recommended as the preferred position with the necessary restrictions.

Ensuring a proactive, evidence-based, patient safety approach to patient assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Considine, Julie; Currey, Judy

2015-01-01

To argue that if all nurses were to adopt the primary survey approach (assessment of airway, breathing, circulation and disability) as the first element of patient assessment, they would be more focused on active detection of clinical deterioration rather than passive collection of patient data. Nurses are the professional group that carry the highest level of responsibility for patient assessment, accurate data collection and interpretation. The timely recognition of, and response to deteriorating patients, is dependent on the measurement and interpretation of pertinent physiological data by nurses. Discursive paper. Traditionally taught and commonly used approaches to patient assessment such as 'vital signs' and 'body systems' are not evidence-based nor framed in patient safety. The primary survey approach as the first element in patient assessment has three major advantages: (1) data are collected according to clinical importance; (2) data are collected using the same framework as most organisation's rapid response system activation criteria; and (3) the primary survey acts as a patient safety checklist, thereby decreasing the risk of failure to recognise, and therefore respond to, deteriorating patients. The vital signs and body systems approaches to patient assessment have significant limitations in identifying clinical deterioration. The primary survey approach provides nurses with a consistent, evidence-based and sequenced approach to patient assessment in every clinical setting. All nurses should use a primary survey approach as the first element of patient assessment in every patient encounter as a patient safety strategy. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Nutritional Recommendations for Adult Bariatric Surgery Patients: Clinical Practice12

Science.gov (United States)

Sherf Dagan, Shiri; Goldenshluger, Ariela; Globus, Inbal; Schweiger, Chaya; Kessler, Yafit; Kowen Sandbank, Galit; Ben-Porat, Tair; Sinai, Tali

2017-01-01

Bariatric surgery is currently the most effective treatment for morbid obesity and its associated metabolic complications. To ensure long-term postoperative success, patients must be prepared to adopt comprehensive lifestyle changes. This review summarizes the current evidence and expert opinions with regard to nutritional care in the perioperative and long-term postoperative periods. A literature search was performed with the use of different lines of searches for narrative reviews. Nutritional recommendations are divided into 3 main sections: 1) presurgery nutritional evaluation and presurgery diet and supplementation; 2) postsurgery diet progression, eating-related behaviors, and nutritional therapy for common gastrointestinal symptoms; and 3) recommendations for lifelong supplementation and advice for nutritional follow-up. We recognize the need for uniform, evidence-based nutritional guidelines for bariatric patients and summarize recommendations with the aim of optimizing long-term success and preventing complications. PMID:28298280

Strengthening leadership as a catalyst for enhanced patient safety culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Solvejg; Christensen, Karl Bang; Jaquet, Annette

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVES: Current literature emphasises that clinical leaders are in a position to enable a culture of safety, and that the safety culture is a performance mediator with the potential to influence patient outcomes. This paper aims to investigate staff's perceptions of patient safety culture...... in a Danish psychiatric department before and after a leadership intervention. METHODS: A repeated cross-sectional experimental study by design was applied. In 2 surveys, healthcare staff were asked about their perceptions of the patient safety culture using the 7 patient safety culture dimensions...... in the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. To broaden knowledge and strengthen leadership skills, a multicomponent programme consisting of academic input, exercises, reflections and discussions, networking, and action learning was implemented among the clinical area level leaders. RESULTS: In total, 358 and 325...

Safety of gadobutrol in over 23,000 patients: the GARDIAN study, a global multicentre, prospective, non-interventional study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prince, Martin R. [Weill Cornell Medical College, Department of Radiology, New York, NY (United States); Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, Department of Radiology, New York, NY (United States); Lee, Hae Giu [Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, College of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Chang-Hee [Korea University Guro Hospital, Department of Radiology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Youn, Sung Won [Catholic University of Daegu Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Lee, In Ho [Chungnam National University Hospital, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Yoon, Woong [Chonnam National University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Yang, Benqiang [General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region, Department of Radiology, Shenyang (China); Wang, Haiping [Tangshan Worker' s Hospital, Department of Radiology, Tangshan (China); Wang, Jin [Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Department of Radiology, Guangzhou (China); Shih, Tiffany Ting-fang [National Taiwan University, Medical College and Hospital, Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Taipei (China); Huang, Guo-Shu [National Defense Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei (China); Lirng, Jiing-Feng [Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Department of Radiology, Taipei (China); Palkowitsch, Petra [Medical and Clinical Affairs Radiology, Bayer Pharmaceutical Division, Berlin (Germany); Collaboration: on behalf of the GARDIAN study group

2017-01-15

To investigate the safety and tolerability of gadobutrol at the recommended dose in patients requiring contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging/angiography (MRI/MRA) in the routine setting. GARDIAN prospectively enrolled 23,708 patients undergoing routine gadobutrol-enhanced MRI/MRA for approved indications at 272 study centres in Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa and monitored for adverse events. Median gadobutrol dose was 0.11 mmol/kg body weight. The overall incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) was 0.7 % (n = 170 patients), with similar incidences in patients with renal impairment or cardiac disease, from different geographic regions and in different gadobutrol dose groups. Patients at risk for contrast media reaction had an ADR incidence of 2.5 %. Five patients (0.02 %) experienced serious adverse events, four were drug-related. One patient experienced a fatal anaphylactoid shock, assessed to be related to injection of gadobutrol. The contrast quality of gadobutrol-enhanced images was rated by treating physicians as good or excellent in 97 % cases, with similar ratings in all patient subgroups and indications. The GARDIAN study shows that gadobutrol at the recommended dose is well tolerated across a large, diverse patient population. (orig.)

Safety of gadobutrol in over 23,000 patients: the GARDIAN study, a global multicentre, prospective, non-interventional study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prince, Martin R.; Lee, Hae Giu; Lee, Chang-Hee; Youn, Sung Won; Lee, In Ho; Yoon, Woong; Yang, Benqiang; Wang, Haiping; Wang, Jin; Shih, Tiffany Ting-fang; Huang, Guo-Shu; Lirng, Jiing-Feng; Palkowitsch, Petra

2017-01-01

To investigate the safety and tolerability of gadobutrol at the recommended dose in patients requiring contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging/angiography (MRI/MRA) in the routine setting. GARDIAN prospectively enrolled 23,708 patients undergoing routine gadobutrol-enhanced MRI/MRA for approved indications at 272 study centres in Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa and monitored for adverse events. Median gadobutrol dose was 0.11 mmol/kg body weight. The overall incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) was 0.7 % (n = 170 patients), with similar incidences in patients with renal impairment or cardiac disease, from different geographic regions and in different gadobutrol dose groups. Patients at risk for contrast media reaction had an ADR incidence of 2.5 %. Five patients (0.02 %) experienced serious adverse events, four were drug-related. One patient experienced a fatal anaphylactoid shock, assessed to be related to injection of gadobutrol. The contrast quality of gadobutrol-enhanced images was rated by treating physicians as good or excellent in 97 % cases, with similar ratings in all patient subgroups and indications. The GARDIAN study shows that gadobutrol at the recommended dose is well tolerated across a large, diverse patient population. (orig.)

[Recommendations for the use of methotrexate in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis].

Science.gov (United States)

Calvo, I; Antón, J; López Robledillo, J C; de Inocencio, J; Gamir, M L; Merino, R; Lacruz, L; Camacho, M; Rua, M J; Bustabad, S; Díaz Cordovés-Rego, G

2016-03-01

To develop a consensus document of recommendations for the use of methotrexate (MTX) in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). A group of eleven experts proposed several clinical questions on the use of MTX in patients with JIA. A systematic review was conducted and the evidence and recommendations for each question were extracted. The results were discussed and validated by the experts in a work session to establish the final recommendations. MTX is recommended as the first drug for inducing remission in JIA, and its indication should be made according to the clinical category of the patient. Prior to treatment, it is recommended to perform a complete blood count, including white cells, levels of liver enzymes, serum creatinine, and other analytical parameters according to specific risk factors. Treatment should be initiated with a dose of 10-15 mg/m(2)/week. In cases of uveitis or polyarthritis, an initial dose of 15 mg/m(2)/week should be considered. For a better bioavailability and tolerability, it is preferable to administer MTX parenterally if the dose is ≥15 mg/m(2)/week. It is necessary to periodically perform an analytical monitoring of the patient and to assess possible alterations in liver enzymes to make changes if necessary. Combinations with biological agents may be necessary, as well as the concomitant addition of folic or folinic acid. This document describes the main recommendations for the appropriate use of MTX in JIA patients, according to scientific evidence and clinical experience. Copyright © 2015 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Measuring safety culture: Application of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture to radiation therapy departments worldwide.

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, Sarah; O'Donovan, Anita

Minimizing errors and improving patient safety has gained prominence worldwide in high-risk disciplines such as radiation therapy. Patient safety culture has been identified as an important factor in reducing the incidence of adverse events and improving patient safety in the health care setting. The aim of distributing the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSPSC) to radiation therapy departments worldwide was to assess the current status of safety culture, identify areas for improvement and areas that excel, examine factors that influence safety culture, and raise staff awareness. The safety culture in radiation therapy departments worldwide was evaluated by distributing the HSPSC. A total of 266 participants were recruited from radiation therapy departments and included radiation oncologists, radiation therapists, physicists, and dosimetrists. The positive percent scores for the 12 dimensions of the HSPSC varied from 50% to 79%. The highest composite score among the 12 dimensions was teamwork within units; the lowest composite score was handoffs and transitions. The results indicated that health care professionals in radiation therapy departments felt positively toward patient safety. The HSPSC was successfully applied to radiation therapy departments and provided valuable insight into areas of potential improvement such as teamwork across units, staffing, and handoffs and transitions. Managers and policy makers in radiation therapy may use this assessment tool for focused improvement efforts toward patient safety culture. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Electronic patient record as the tool for better patient safety].

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Henning

2015-01-01

Recent studies indicate again that there is a deficit in the use of electronic health records (EHR) in German hospitals. Despite good arguments in favour of their use, such as the rapid availability of data, German hospitals shy away from a wider implementation. The reason is the high cost of installing and maintaining the EHRs, for the benefit is difficult to evaluate in monetary terms for the hospital. Even if a benefit can be shown it is not necessarily evident within the hospital, but manifests itself only in the health system outside. Many hospitals only manage to partly implement EHR resulting in increased documentation requirements which reverse their positive effect.In the United States, electronic medical records are also viewed in light of their positive impact on patient safety. In particular, electronic medication systems prove the benefits they can provide in the context of patient safety. As a result, financing systems have been created to promote the digitalisation of hospitals in the United States. This has led to a large increase in the use of IT systems in the United States in recent years. The Universitätsklinikum Eppendorf (UKE) introduced electronic patient records in 2009. The benefits, in particular as regards patient safety, are numerous and there are many examples to illustrate this position. These positive results are intended to demonstrate the important role EHR play in hospitals. A financing system of the ailing IT landscape based on the American model is urgently needed to benefit-especially in terms of patient safety-from electronic medical records in the hospital.

Patient Reactions to Surgeon Recommendations About Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy for Treatment of Breast Cancer.

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Katz, Steven J; Janz, Nancy K; Abrahamse, Paul; Wallner, Lauren P; Hawley, Sarah T; An, Lawrence C; Ward, Kevin C; Hamilton, Ann S; Morrow, Monica; Jagsi, Reshma

2017-07-01

Guidelines assert that contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) should be discouraged in patients without an elevated risk for a second primary breast cancer. However, little is known about the impact of surgeons discouraging CPM on patient care satisfaction or decisions to seek treatment from another clinician. To examine the association between patient report of first-surgeon recommendation against CPM and the extent of discussion about it with 3 outcomes: patient satisfaction with surgery decisions, receipt of a second opinion, and receipt of surgery by a second surgeon. This population-based survey study was conducted in Georgia and California. We identified 3880 women with stages 0 to II breast cancer treated in 2013-2014 through the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries of Georgia and Los Angeles County. Surveys were sent approximately 2 months after surgery (71% response rate, n = 2578). In this analysis conducted from February to May 2016, we included patients with unilateral breast cancer who considered CPM (n = 1140). Patients were selected between July 2013 and September 2014. We examined report of surgeon recommendations, level of discussion about CPM, satisfaction with surgical decision making, receipt of second surgical opinion, and surgery from a second surgeon. The mean (SD) age of patients included in this study was 56 (10.6) years. About one-quarter of patients (26.7%; n = 304) reported that their first surgeon recommended against CPM and 30.1% (n = 343) reported no substantial discussion about CPM. Dissatisfaction with surgery decision was uncommon (7.6%; n = 130), controlling for clinical and demographic characteristics. One-fifth of patients (20.6%; n = 304) had a second opinion about surgical options and 9.8% (n = 158) had surgery performed by a second surgeon. Dissatisfaction was very low (3.9%; n = 42) among patients who reported that their surgeon did not recommend against CPM but

Health IT for Patient Safety and Improving the Safety of Health IT.

Science.gov (United States)

Magrabi, Farah; Ong, Mei-Sing; Coiera, Enrico

2016-01-01

Alongside their benefits health IT applications can pose new risks to patient safety. Problems with IT have been linked to many different types of clinical errors including prescribing and administration of medications; as well as wrong-patient, wrong-site errors, and delays in procedures. There is also growing concern about the risks of data breach and cyber-security. IT-related clinical errors have their origins in processes undertaken to design, build, implement and use software systems in a broader sociotechnical context. Safety can be improved with greater standardization of clinical software and by improving the quality of processes at different points in the technology life cycle, spanning design, build, implementation and use in clinical settings. Oversight processes can be set up at a regional or national level to ensure that clinical software systems meet specific standards. Certification and regulation are two mechanisms to improve oversight. In the absence of clear standards, guidelines are useful to promote safe design and implementation practices. Processes to identify and mitigate hazards can be formalised via a safety management system. Minimizing new patient safety risks is critical to realizing the benefits of IT.

Summary (and) recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

This report looks at the Health and Safety record at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston. The last outside report was by Pochin in 1978 which recommended that staffing for health physicists and maintenance staff should be increased and that some buildings where solid and liquid radioactive wastes were processed should be replaced. A new facility to process contaminated heavy equipment was also recommended. This report finds that none of the recommendations have been fully implemented. It also lists accidents, fires and worker contamination. It is concluded that some of the problems are that nuclear weapons production is inherently unsafe and cannot be made safe, that the secrecy surrounding the establishments' safety record is not good for improving it and finally the report calls for production at Aldermaston to be halted. (UK)

Workplace engagement and workers' compensation claims as predictors for patient safety culture.

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Thorp, Jonathon; Baqai, Waheed; Witters, Dan; Harter, Jim; Agrawal, Sangeeta; Kanitkar, Kirti; Pappas, James

2012-12-01

Demonstrate the relationship between employee engagement and workplace safety for predicting patient safety culture. Patient safety is an issue for the U.S. health-care system, and health care has some of the highest rates of nonfatal workplace injuries. Understanding the types of injuries sustained by health-care employees, the type of safety environment employees of health-care organizations work in, and how employee engagement affects patient safety is vital to improving the safety of both employees and patients. The Gallup Q survey and an approved, abbreviated, and validated subset of questions from the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture were administered to staff at a large tertiary academic medical center in 2007 and 2009. After controlling for demographic variables, researchers conducted a longitudinal, hierarchical linear regression analysis to study the unique contributions of employee engagement, changes in employee engagement, and employee safety in predicting patient safety culture. Teams with higher baseline engagement, more positive change in engagement, fewer workers' compensation claims, and fewer part-time associates in previous years had stronger patient safety cultures in 2009. Baseline engagement and change in engagement were the strongest independent predictors of patient safety culture in 2009. Engagement and compensation claims were additive and complimentary predictors, independent of other variables in the analysis, including the demographic composition of the workgroups in the study. A synergistic effect exists between employee engagement and decreased levels of workers' compensation claims for improving patient safety culture. Organizations can improve engagement and implement safety policies, procedures, and devices for employees with an ultimate effect of improving patient safety culture.

Assessing medical students' perceptions of patient safety: the medical student safety attitudes and professionalism survey.

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Liao, Joshua M; Etchegaray, Jason M; Williams, S Tyler; Berger, David H; Bell, Sigall K; Thomas, Eric J

2014-02-01

To develop and test the psychometric properties of a survey to measure students' perceptions about patient safety as observed on clinical rotations. In 2012, the authors surveyed 367 graduating fourth-year medical students at three U.S. MD-granting medical schools. They assessed the survey's reliability and construct and concurrent validity. They examined correlations between students' perceptions of organizational cultural factors, organizational patient safety measures, and students' intended safety behaviors. They also calculated percent positive scores for cultural factors. Two hundred twenty-eight students (62%) responded. Analyses identified five cultural factors (teamwork culture, safety culture, error disclosure culture, experiences with professionalism, and comfort expressing professional concerns) that had construct validity, concurrent validity, and good reliability (Cronbach alphas > 0.70). Across schools, percent positive scores for safety culture ranged from 28% (95% confidence interval [CI], 13%-43%) to 64% (30%-98%), while those for teamwork culture ranged from 47% (32%-62%) to 74% (66%-81%). They were low for error disclosure culture (range: 10% [0%-20%] to 27% [20%-35%]), experiences with professionalism (range: 7% [0%-15%] to 23% [16%-30%]), and comfort expressing professional concerns (range: 17% [5%-29%] to 38% [8%-69%]). Each cultural factor correlated positively with perceptions of overall patient safety as observed in clinical rotations (r = 0.37-0.69, P safety behavioral intent item. This study provided initial evidence for the survey's reliability and validity and illustrated its applicability for determining whether students' clinical experiences exemplify positive patient safety environments.

Examination of the relationship between management and clinician perception of patient safety climate and patient satisfaction.

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Mazurenko, Olena; Richter, Jason; Kazley, Abby Swanson; Ford, Eric

2017-04-25

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between managers and clinicians' agreement on deeming the patient safety climate as high or low and the patients' satisfaction with those organizations. We used two secondary data sets: the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (2012) and the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (2012). We used ordinary least squares regressions to analyze the relationship between the extent of agreement between managers and clinicians' perceptions of safety climate in relationship to patient satisfaction. The dependent variables were four Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems patient satisfaction scores: communication with nurses, communication with doctors, communication about medicines, and discharge information. The main independent variables were four groups that were formed based on the extent of managers and clinicians' agreement on four patient safety climate domains: communication openness, feedback and communication about errors, teamwork within units, and teamwork across units. After controlling for hospital and market-level characteristics, we found that patient satisfaction was significantly higher if managers and clinicians reported that patient safety climate is high or if only clinicians perceived the climate as high. Specifically, manager and clinician agreement on high levels of communication openness (β = 2.25, p = .01; β = 2.46, p = .05), feedback and communication about errors (β = 3.0, p = .001; β = 2.89, p = .01), and teamwork across units (β = 2.91, p = .001; β = 3.34, p = .01) was positively and significantly associated with patient satisfaction with discharge information and communication about medication. In addition, more favorable perceptions about patient safety climate by clinicians only yielded similar findings. Organizations should measure and examine patient safety climate from multiple perspectives and be aware that individuals

Recommendations for Clinical Pathology Data Generation, Interpretation, and Reporting in Target Animal Safety Studies for Veterinary Drug Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Siska, William; Gupta, Aradhana; Tomlinson, Lindsay; Tripathi, Niraj; von Beust, Barbara

Clinical pathology testing is routinely performed in target animal safety studies in order to identify potential toxicity associated with administration of an investigational veterinary pharmaceutical product. Regulatory and other testing guidelines that address such studies provide recommendations for clinical pathology testing but occasionally contain outdated analytes and do not take into account interspecies physiologic differences that affect the practical selection of appropriate clinical pathology tests. Additionally, strong emphasis is often placed on statistical analysis and use of reference intervals for interpretation of test article-related clinical pathology changes, with limited attention given to the critical scientific review of clinically, toxicologically, or biologically relevant changes. The purpose of this communication from the Regulatory Affairs Committee of the American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology is to provide current recommendations for clinical pathology testing and data interpretation in target animal safety studies and thereby enhance the value of clinical pathology testing in these studies.

Quality of healthcare services and its relationship with patient safety culture and nurse-physician professional communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akram Ghahramanian

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Background: This study investigated quality of healthcare services from patients’ perspectives and its relationship with patient safety culture and nurse-physician professional communication. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 surgery patients and 101 nurses caring them in a public hospital in Tabriz–Iran. Data were collected using the service quality measurement scale (SERVQUAL, hospital survey on patient safety culture (HSOPSC and nurse physician professional communication questionnaire. Results: The highest and lowest mean (±SD scores of the patients’ perception on the healthcare services quality belonged to the assurance 13.92 (±3.55 and empathy 6.78 (±1.88 domains,respectively. With regard to the patient safety culture, the mean percentage of positive answers ranged from 45.87% for "non-punitive response to errors" to 68.21% for "organizational continuous learning" domains. The highest and lowest mean (±SD scores for the nurse physician professional communication were obtained for "cooperation" 3.44 (±0.35 and "non participative decision-making" 2.84 (±0.34 domains, respectively. The "frequency of reported errors by healthcare professionals" (B=-4.20, 95% CI = -7.14 to -1.27, P<0.01 and "respect and sharing of information" (B=7.69, 95% CI=4.01 to 11.36, P<0.001 predicted the patients’perceptions of the quality of healthcare services. Conclusion: Organizational culture in dealing with medical error should be changed to non punitive response. Change in safety culture towards reporting of errors, effective communication and teamwork between healthcare professionals are recommended.

[Inclusion of patient safety into the Medical degree electives: Description of the experience and student perception].

Science.gov (United States)

Ladenheim, R; Macchiavello, D; Milberg, M

One of the factors identified to reduce medical errors has been the organisational culture. Education is proposed as a tool for its modification, but this does not have a unique way of being achieved. This paper sought to describe a patient safety elective for medical students and to determine their perceptions on the subject. A descriptive study was performed in the Center of Medical Education and Clinical Investigations, in Argentina. Every student who participated in the elective was included, and there were no exclusion criteria. An online survey was conducted on all participants, and individual interviews were conducted on a convenience sample. The subject was chosen by 54 students out of a total of 274 students between 2011 and 2014. All (100%) of the students completed the course and passed the exam, and stated that they would recommend the elective. Most of the students (n=26) agreed that patient safety content should be mandatory, that its content was novel, and that the subject's structure seemed appropriate, with 21 saying that it was the first time they had been talked about these issues. From the individual interviews, students emphasised the novelty of the subject, and that their perception on patient safety issues had increased. The proposed elective had a good reception among students. The methodology planned for its teaching seemed appropriate. Inter-professional education in patient safety should be implemented to improve student competencies in the subject. Copyright © 2017 SECA. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Patient gender affects the referral and recommendation for total joint arthroplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Borkhoff, Cornelia M; Hawker, Gillian A; Wright, James G

2011-07-01

Rates of use of total joint arthroplasty among appropriate and willing candidates are lower in women than in men. A number of factors may explain this gender disparity, including patients' preferences for surgery, gender bias influencing physicians' clinical decision-making, and the patient-physician interaction. We propose a framework of how patient gender affects the patient and physician decision-making process of referral and recommendation for total joint arthroplasty and consider potential interventions to close the gender gap in total joint arthroplasty utilization. The process involved in the referral and recommendation for total joint arthroplasty involves eight discrete steps. A systematic review is used to describe the influence of patient gender and related clinical and nonclinical factors at each step. WHERE ARE WE NOW?: Patient gender plays an important role in the process of referral and recommendation for total joint arthroplasty. Female gender primarily affects Steps 3 through 8, suggesting barriers unique to women exist in the patient-physician interaction. WHERE DO WE NEED TO GO?: Developing and evaluating interventions that improve the quality of the patient-physician interaction should be the focus of future research. HOW DO WE GET THERE?: Potential interventions include using decision support tools that facilitate shared decision-making between patients and their physicians and promoting cultural competency and shared decision-making skills programs as a core component of medical education. Increasing physicians' acceptance and awareness of the unconscious biases that may be influencing their clinical decision-making may require additional skills programs.

Nurse working conditions and patient safety outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Patricia W; Mooney-Kane, Cathy; Larson, Elaine L; Horan, Teresa; Glance, Laurent G; Zwanziger, Jack; Dick, Andrew W

2007-06-01

System approaches, such as improving working conditions, have been advocated to improve patient safety. However, the independent effect of many working condition variables on patient outcomes is unknown. To examine effects of a comprehensive set of working conditions on elderly patient safety outcomes in intensive care units. Observational study, with patient outcome data collected using the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance system protocols and Medicare files. Several measures of health status and fixed setting characteristics were used to capture distinct dimensions of patient severity of illness and risk for disease. Working condition variables included organizational climate measured by nurse survey; objective measures of staffing, overtime, and wages (derived from payroll data); and hospital profitability and magnet accreditation. The sample comprised 15,846 patients in 51 adult intensive care units in 31 hospitals depending on the outcome analyzed; 1095 nurses were surveyed. Central line associated bloodstream infections (CLBSI), ventilator-associated pneumonia, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, 30-day mortality, and decubiti. Units with higher staffing had lower incidence of CLBSI, ventilator-associated pneumonia, 30-day mortality, and decubiti (P working conditions were associated with all outcomes measured. Improving working conditions will most likely promote patient safety. Future researchers and policymakers should consider a broad set of working condition variables.

[Patient safety in education and training of healthcare professionals in Germany].

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffmann, Barbara; Siebert, H; Euteneier, A

2015-01-01

In order to improve patient safety, healthcare professionals who care for patients directly or indirectly are required to possess specific knowledge and skills. Patient safety education is not or only poorly represented in education and examination regulations of healthcare professionals in Germany; therefore, it is only practiced rarely and on a voluntary basis. Meanwhile, several training curricula and concepts have been developed in the past 10 years internationally and recently in Germany, too. Based on these concepts the German Coalition for Patient Safety developed a catalogue of core competencies required for safety in patient care. This catalogue will serve as an important orientation when patient safety is to be implemented as a subject of professional education in Germany in the future. Moreover, teaching staff has to be trained and educational and training activities have to be evaluated. Patient safety education and training for (undergraduate) healthcare professional will require capital investment.

Can we improve patient safety?

Science.gov (United States)

Corbally, Martin Thomas

2014-01-01

Despite greater awareness of patient safety issues especially in the operating room and the widespread implementation of surgical time out World Health Organization (WHO), errors, especially wrong site surgery, continue. Most such errors are due to lapses in communication where decision makers fail to consult or confirm operative findings but worryingly where parental concerns over the planned procedure are ignored or not followed through. The WHO Surgical Pause/Time Out aims to capture these errors and prevent them, but the combination of human error and complex hospital environments can overwhelm even robust safety structures and simple common sense. Parents are the ultimate repository of information on their child's condition and planned surgery but are traditionally excluded from the process of Surgical Pause and Time Out, perhaps to avoid additional stress. In addition, surgeons, like pilots, are subject to the phenomenon of "plan-continue-fail" with potentially disastrous outcomes. If we wish to improve patient safety during surgery and avoid wrong site errors then we must include parents in the Surgical Pause/Time Out. A recent pilot study has shown that neither staff nor parents found it added to their stress, but, moreover, 100% of parents considered that it should be a mandatory component of the Surgical Pause nor does it add to the stress of surgery. Surgeons should be required to confirm that the planned procedure is in keeping with the operative findings especially in extirpative surgery and this "step back" should be incorporated into the standard Surgical Pause. It is clear that we must improve patient safety further and these simple measures should add to that potential.

Designing a Safety Reporting Smartphone Application to Improve Patient Safety After Total Hip Arthroplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Krumsvik, Ole Andreas; Babic, Ankica

2017-01-01

This paper presents a safety reporting smartphone application which is expected to reduce the occurrence of postoperative adverse events after total hip arthroplasty (THA). A user-centered design approach was utilized to facilitate optimal user experience. Two main implemented functionalities capture patient pain levels and well-being, the two dimensions of patient status that are intuitive and commonly checked. For these and other functionalities, mobile technology could enable timely safety reporting and collection of patient data out of a hospital setting. The HCI expert, and healthcare professionals from the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen have assessed the design with respect to the interaction flow, information content, and self-reporting functionalities. They have found it to be practical, intuitive, sufficient and simple for users. Patient self-reporting could help recognizing safety issues and adverse events.

The impact of health information technology on patient safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasser K. Alotaibi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Since the original Institute of Medicine (IOM report was published there has been an accelerated development and adoption of health information technology with varying degrees of evidence about the impact of health information technology on patient safety. This article is intended to review the current available scientific evidence on the impact of different health information technologies on improving patient safety outcomes. We conclude that health information technology improves patient’s safety by reducing medication errors, reducing adverse drug reactions, and improving compliance to practice guidelines. There should be no doubt that health information technology is an important tool for improving healthcare quality and safety. Healthcare organizations need to be selective in which technology to invest in, as literature shows that some technologies have limited evidence in improving patient safety outcomes.

Patient safety problem identification and solution sharing among rural community pharmacists.

Science.gov (United States)

Galt, Kimberly A; Fuji, Kevin T; Faber, Jennifer

2013-01-01

To implement a communication network for safety problem identification and solution sharing among rural community pharmacists and to report participating pharmacists' perceived value and impact of the network on patient safety after 1 year of implementation. Action research study. Rural community pharmacies in Nebraska from January 2010 to April 2011. Rural community pharmacists who voluntarily agreed to join the Pharmacists for Patient Safety Network in Nebraska. Pharmacists reported errors, near misses, and safety concerns through Web-based event reporting. A rapid feedback process was used to provide patient safety solutions to consider implementing across the network. Qualitative interviews were conducted 1 year after program implementation with participating pharmacists to assess use of the reporting system, value of the disseminated safety solutions, and perceived impact on patient safety in pharmacies. 30 of 38 pharmacists participating in the project completed the interviews. The communication network improved pharmacist awareness, promoted open discussion and knowledge sharing, contributed to practice vigilance, and led to incorporation of proactive safety prevention practices. Despite low participation in error and near-miss reporting, a dynamic communication network designed to rapidly disseminate evidence-based patient safety strategies to reduce risk was valued and effective at improving patient safety practices in rural community pharmacies.