Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

16 Sterile Processing & Patient Safety 5 Important Patient Safety Supplies for Hospitals By Heather Punke A s hospitals strive to reduce medical errors and keep patients safe, there are a few things they should be sure to supply to employees to achieve that goal. The following are five tools, supplies and resources hospitals need to have to ensure patient safety, as provided by Lori Pilla, RN, vice president of clinical advantage and supply chain optimization for Amerinet, a group purchasing organization. 1. Chair and bed protection against falls. Things like fall risk indica- tors, bed and chair exit alarms, floor mats, hip protectors and side rail protec- tors can help minimize the likelihood of patient falls. 2. Supplies to prevent bloodstream infections. Hospitals should provide protective equipment, like masks, caps, sterile gowns and gloves to people inserting central venous catheters and a head-to-toe sterile drape for the patient, according to Ms. Pilla. Antimicrobial or antiseptic-impregnated catheters or disinfection cap systems can also protect patients from bloodstream infections. 3. Alcohol-based hand rubs. Hand hygiene is of upmost importance when it comes to preventing healthcare-associated infections, and hand sanitizer has several benefits, like being faster, more accessible and gentler on the skin, according to Ms. Pilla. 4. Medication labeling systems. Such systems that work with hospital, pharmacy and lab software can help prevent medication errors, which cause thousands of deaths in the U.S. each year. 5. Continuing education. While this is not a physical supply, providing access to continuing education can help hospital staff stay up to date with the most recent standards and best practices, thus protecting patients. n 5 Ways to Prevent Infection Spread in Waiting Rooms By Heather Punke M any healthcare clinics' and hospitals' waiting rooms have been crowded with sick patients of late, thanks to a more severe flu season than usual and a resurgence of measles, which had made an appearance in 17 states from Jan. 1 to Feb. 13, ac- cording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While some physicians turned to telemedicine to diagnose diseases and to minimize the spread of the illness, that is not always an option for all offices or for all illnesses. Healthcare provider organizations can take steps to keep the spread of infectious diseases to a minimum. "While telemedicine may be an option for some doctor's offices, it is critical that all clinics, including urgent care settings across the country, create safer waiting rooms to help protect against the spread of the influ- enza virus," said Martie Moore, RN, CNO of Medline Industries. Ms. Moore suggests taking the following five precautions to make wait- ing rooms as safe as possible for patients: • Make hand sanitizer accessible in high-traffic areas • Offer an antiviral face mask to patients and healthcare workers • Use germ-killing wipes on high-contact surfaces • Review containment plans and keep patients with flu-like symp- toms away from others • Follow hand hygiene compliance standards n T he National Patient Safety Foundation's Lucian Leape Institute issued numerous recommendations to improve transpar- ency after holding two roundtable discussions on the topic as it relates to patient safety. The organization issued the recommendations to encourage transparency — which it believes will lead to improved outcomes, fewer errors, more satisfied patients and lower costs — between and among clinicians, healthcare organizations and the public. Highlighted below are 10 recommendations in- cluded in the report: 1. Leaders and boards of health organizations should link hiring, firing, promotion, and com- pensation of leaders to results in cultural transfor- mation and transparency. 2. Being transparent regarding the membership of the board is also vital for leaders. 3. Major healthcare organizations like the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Qual- ity Forum, CMS and accreditation bodies should ensure data sources — such as claims data, patient registry data, clinical data and patient-reported out- comes — are accessible to patients and the public. 4. Executives and clinicians should provide patients with descriptions of alternatives for tests and treat- ments, as well as the pros and cons for each. 5. Executives and clinicians should also provide patients with information about their planned tests and treatments using terminology they can understand. 6. Providing both patients and clinicians with or- ganized support when they are involved in acci- dents is also important for executives. 7. Clinicians should create processes to address threats to accountability such as disruptive be- havior, substandard performance, violation of safe practices and inadequate oversight of colleagues' performance. 8. Among organizations, executives and boards should establish mechanisms to adopt best safety practices from one another and participate in col- laboratives to accelerate improvement. 9. To improve transparency with the public, reg- ulators and payers should ensure all healthcare entities have core competencies to accurately and understandably communicate their performance. 10. Regulators and payers should also be sure healthcare organizations publicly display the mea- sures they use for monitoring quality and safety via dashboards, organizational report cards or some other tool. n 10 Recommendations on How to Increase Transparency, Improve Patient Safety By Shannon Barnet

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