Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1500412
25 QUALITY IMPROVEMENT & MEASUREMENT Top 10 patient safety concerns for 2023 By Paige Twenter T he pediatric mental health crisis is the most pressing patient safety concern in 2023, the Emergency Care Research Institute said March 13. e ECRI, which conducts independent medical device evaluations, annually compiles scientific literature and patient safety events, concerns reported to or investigated by the organization, and other data sources to create its top 10 list. Here are the 10 patient safety concerns for 2023, according to the report: 1. e pediatric mental health crisis 2. Physical and verbal violence against healthcare staff 3. Clinician needs in times of uncertainty surrounding maternal-fetal medicine 4. Impact on clinicians expected to work outside their scope of practice and competencies 5. Delayed identification and treatment of sepsis 6. Consequences of poor care coordination for patients with complex medical conditions 7. Risks of not looking beyond the "five rights" to achieve medication safety 8. Medication errors resulting from inaccurate patient medication lists 9. Accidental administration of neuromuscular blocking agents 10. Preventable harm due to omitted care or treatment For the No. 1 spot, the ECRI said the COVID-19 pandemic raised the situation, which includes high rates of depression and anxiety among children, to crisis levels. ECRI President and CEO Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD, said social media, gun violence and other socioeconomic factors were fueling the issue, but COVID-19 pushed it into a crisis. "We're approaching a national public health emergency," Dr. Schabacker said in a statement. Solutions to these concerns are complex, but the ECRI lists them here. n The potential harms of long workweeks for physicians By Mackenzie Bean T he risk of medical errors increases when physicians have extended shifts or long workweeks, a study published April 12 in BMJ Medicine found. Researchers at Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital analyzed self- reported data on work hours and safety outcomes from 4,826 U.S. medical residents between 2002 to 2007 and 2014 to 2017. Residents were in their second year of residency or higher. Physicians who worked more than 48 hours a week were more likely to self- report medical errors, preventable adverse events (some of which were fatal), occupational exposures and percutaneous injuries, among other concerns. Working 60 to 70 hours per week was associated with a more than twofold increase in the risk of medical errors and a nearly threefold jump in the risk of preventable adverse events. "These results indicate that exceeding 48 weekly work hours or working shifts of extended duration endangers even experienced resident physicians and their patients," researchers said. "These data suggest that regulatory bodies in the U.S. and elsewhere should consider lowering weekly work hour limits, as the European Union has done, and eliminating shifts of extended duration to protect the more than 150,000 physicians training in the U.S. and their patients." At present, U.S. guidelines prohibit only first-year residents from working extended shifts. n Banner helicopters now carry blood to improve outcomes for trauma patients By Erica Carbajal B anner Health helicopters are now equipped with two bags of O-negative blood — an effort to improve outcomes for trauma patients who need to be airlifted to a hospital. All helicopters with BannerAir, the Phoenix-based system's air medical transplant program, now carry O-negative blood. That's the most common type needed for emergency transfusions when patients are experiencing massive blood loss. "Time is often a key factor for patients in these situations, and the ability for them to receive blood in the prehospital setting will make treatment more streamlined and increase the likelihood for more positive outcomes," said Richard Swedbergh, chief operating officer for Banner Health emergency transportation. To protect supplies, the temperature of the blood is constantly monitored so any unused units can go back to the hospital for inpatient use. The effort is the result of a partnership between the health system and Laboratory Sciences of Arizona, a Banner subsidiary that manages its hospital blood bank. n