Search Tag: patient safety

2017 23 May

Research suggests that medical errors cause over 250,000 fatalities each year. While the medical community has made efforts to encourage error disclosure for physicians and medical trainees to improve patient safety and outcomes, the guidelines fall short when addressing the social psychology of how errors are disclosed and how physicians and medical...Read more

2017 18 Apr

I am writing this blog on a train to Manchester, conscious that I have already missed the Editor's deadline by a few days. I am not sure why, but my chosen title has been more challenging than I expected.   At first I wondered about using my Dad's experience of being a stroke patient as my starting point for a diatribe on 'Do Patients Matter?'...Read more

2017 17 Apr

This year, the 5th Annual World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit focused on 13 Actionable Patient Safety Solutions (APSS), which the Patient Safety Movement believes can reduce the number of preventable deaths in hospitals to zero by 2020. In addition to general issues that are of concern across the healthcare...Read more

2017 23 Feb

Medical Improv is an exciting teaching tool that can be used to promote emotional intelligence, communication, teamwork, and leadership skills in healthcare professionals. It is different from improv comedy because the focus is on learning instead of performing.  In this emerging field, practitioners adapt experiential activities from the world of...Read more

2017 22 Mar

Find European Association of Hospital Pharmacists on Social Media        Read more

2017 02 Mar

Find Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) on Social Media         Read more

2016 13 Dec

  The U.S. healthcare sector is urged to address two major concerns related to the practice of overlapping surgeries: patient safety and improper payments.     Following its investigation into the practice, the Senate Finance Committee has released a report acknowledging that "evidence on the practice — safe or otherwise — of concurrent or...Read more

2016 05 Sep

Fellow nurses and doctors are the prime culprits in nurse bullying and often may not even be aware that their behaviour is having a discouraging impact on colleagues. The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) held a discussion on the issue via Facebook with input from nurses saying that forms of intimidation included everything...Read more

2016 09 Aug

  Patient safety before, during, and after surgery requires an appropriately educated, committed and empowered health care team, according to recommendations presented at the recent inaugural National Surgical Patient Safety Summit (NSPSS). The two-day event, included more than 100 representatives from medical professional associations, insurers, health...Read more

2016 12 Mar

The Patient Safety Global Action Summit 2016 took place in London last week with thought leaders gathering to discuss the future of patient safety. Reflecting the Patient Safety 2030 report, produced by the NIHR Imperial PSTRC, the summit focused  on: Taking a holistic, system-based approach to patient safety; The emerging threats shaping...Read more

2016 22 Feb

In the quest to eliminate preventable harm and consistently deliver outstanding care, many health care organizations seek to learn from the successes of high-reliability organizations (HROs). HROs operate in complex, dynamic environments where there is constant risk of catastrophic failure. Yet these organizations perform well day after day because...Read more

2015 27 Oct

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found that some sort of mistake or adverse event occurred in 1 out of 2 surgeries studied and in 5 percent of observed drug administrations. Their study of 277 operations at MGH also found that a third of the errors resulted in adverse drug events or harm to patients. The findings were presented...Read more

2015 24 Jul

U.S. News & World Report has released the 26th edition of the Best Hospitals rankings, which are based on consumer-friendly data and information on nearly 5,000 medical centres nationwide. The Best Hospitals methodology measures patient volume, patient safety, risk-adjusted survival rates and adequacy of nurse staffing, among other care-related factors....Read more

2015 20 Jul

Patient safety is key to providing quality healthcare. Now a new study shows that hospital nurse managers' (NMs) transformational leadership style can help create an environment conducive to patient safety. The finding is published in the Journal of Nursing Administration . Transformational leaders are proactive and convince followers to strive for...Read more

2015 14 Jul

A retrospective study published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that work hour restrictions for resident physician, revised in 2011 mainly to reduce fatigue-related errors, have not decreased postoperative complication rates in several common surgical specialities. "Our finding suggests the ACGME reform is not meeting...Read more

2015 08 Jul

Hospitals should strive to eliminate emotional harm as much as they do to reduce or eliminate physical harm to patients, according to a BMJ article written by healthcare quality and safety experts from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). Emotional harm is defined as something that affects a patient's dignity by the failure to demonstrate adequate...Read more

2015 05 Jul

Dietary errors occurred in 285 events reported to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority between January 2009 and June 2014, with eight events causing serious harm to patients. The findings highlight the importance of having dietary standards to ensure that meals served in the hospital meet the needs of patients. Meals delivered to patients who...Read more

2015 22 Jun

According to a review published online in  Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), proper laundering and handling are critical for achieving and maintaining hygienically clean quality of healthcare fabrics and textiles delivered to the point of care. Lynne Sehulster, PhD,...Read more

2015 12 Jun

Public reporting of healthcare and patient safety information has allowed patients to play an increasing role in their own healthcare decisions. With all such information widely available, it is important for patients to know where to look for the most accurate and reliable data. For heart and lung surgery, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) continues...Read more

2015 05 Jan

Physicians' work schedules are an important determinant of their own wellbeing and that of their patients. A new  study published in Applied Ergonomics  aimed to determine whether allowing physicians control over their work hours ameliorates the effects of demanding work schedules. Based on the results, optimising the balance between schedule flexibility...Read more

2014 10 Dec

Virginia Mason has made The Leapfrog Group's annual list of Top Hospitals in the US for the ninth consecutive year. It is the only hospital in the country to be named a Top Hospital every year since the recognition programme was launched in 2006. In addition, Virginia Mason is the only hospital in Washington state to receive the 2014 Top Hospital award...Read more

2014 13 Oct

Martin Bromiley is the founder of the Clinical Human Factors Group (CHFG), an independent organisation which promotes patient safety by encouraging the exploration and discussion of how human fallibility influences healthcare delivery. Through its advocacy efforts, including a series of open seminars, the CHFG aims to reduce catastrophic errors and...Read more

2014 15 Sep

Gossip can both hinder and help in a hospital environment. Despite the fact that research indicates that it occurs frequently in healthcare organisations, it has not been studied in relation to other organisational manifestations such as burnout and engagement, or quality of care outcomes. A study recently published in the journal Burnout Research...Read more

2014 02 Sep

Joel J. Nobel’s career as a physician and patient safety advocate “made hospitals a safer place for everybody,” according to Anthony J. Montagnolo, the chief operating officer of the Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI). Dr. Nobel founded the institute in 1968, committed to evaluating the safety and reliability of medical equipment.  Dr....Read more

2014 18 Aug

Last year, acute care hospitals in Massachusetts recorded a 70 percent spike in serious medical errors and patient injuries, according to a Boston Globe report. Health officials, however, attributed the dramatic increase to revised definitions of what constitutes medical harm. A total of 753 incidents were reported by acute care hospitals in the...Read more

2015 06 Oct

The International Hospital Federation (IHF) is the worldwide forum and knowledge hub for hospitals, national hospital associations and healthcare organizations that offers policy guidance and facilitates the exchange of strategic information and experience in health sector management. As a membership organization of national bodies representing healthcare...Read more

2014 23 Jun

The European Commission has published a patient safety package detailing progress made in recent years and existing barriers yet to be overcome. The establishment of national programs for patient safety and the implementation of systems for reporting adverse events related to hospitalisation represent two of the most improved areas. Challenges remain...Read more

2014 17 Jun

Safe healthcare organisations need to anticipate and prevent harm to patients. In this article, a framework for measuring and monitoring healthcare safety is presented.  The framework, developed by the Health Foundation  has potential uses in supporting healthcare organisations to understand how safe their servies are and in identifying the relative...Read more