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BMJ Open Quality Feb 2020Open communication between leadership and frontline staff at the unit level is vital in promoting safe hospital culture. Our hospital staff culture survey identified the...
BACKGROUND
Open communication between leadership and frontline staff at the unit level is vital in promoting safe hospital culture. Our hospital staff culture survey identified the failure to address safety issues as one of the areas where staff felt unable to express their concerns openly. Thus, this improvement project using the daily safety huddle tool has been developed to enhance teamwork communication and respond effectively to patient safety issues identified in a paediatric intensive care unit.
METHODS
We used the TeamSTEPPS quality approach. TeamSTEPPS is an evidence-based set of teamwork tools developed by the US Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality to enhance teamwork and communication. We applied TeamSTEPPS using a tool called the Daily Safety Huddle, aiming at improving communication and interaction between healthcare workers and building trust by acting immediately when there is any patient safety issue or concern at the unit level.
RESULTS
During the period from April to December 2017, the interaction between frontline staff and unit leadership increased through compliance with the daily safety huddle. Initially, compliance was at 73%, but it increased to 97%, with a total of 340 safety issues addressed. The majority of these safety issues pertained to infection control and medication errors (109; 32.05%), followed by communication (83; 24.41%), documentation (59; 17.35%), other issues (37; 10.88%), procedure (20; 5.88%), patient flow (16; 4.7%) and equipment and supplies (16; 4.7%).
CONCLUSIONS
Systematic use of daily safety huddle is a powerful tool to create an equitable environment where frontline staff can speak up freely about daily patient safety concerns. The huddle leads to a more open and active discussion with unit leadership and to the ability to perform the right action at the right time.
Topics: Communication; Humans; Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; Patient Care Team; Patient Safety; Quality Improvement; State Medicine; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 32098776
DOI: 10.1136/bmjoq-2019-000753 -
The New Zealand Medical Journal Feb 2020The purpose of this article is to offer evidence that vaccine safety is taken very seriously and various examples to support this premise are described. The article...
The purpose of this article is to offer evidence that vaccine safety is taken very seriously and various examples to support this premise are described. The article covers adverse event reporting following vaccination, the difference between events which occur after vaccination and events which are caused by vaccination, the comprehensive safety monitoring required when vaccines are first introduced, international vaccine withdrawals because of safety concerns and some vaccine changes in New Zealand where safety was an important consideration. Finally, recent developments in vaccine safety monitoring are outlined. It is hoped that this will be a useful resource for those involved in the complex issue of counteracting vaccine hesitancy.
Topics: Health Policy; Humans; New Zealand; Patient Safety; Product Surveillance, Postmarketing; Vaccines
PubMed: 32078604
DOI: No ID Found -
BMJ Quality & Safety Jul 2023
Topics: Humans; Patient Safety; Emotions; Patient-Centered Care
PubMed: 36732064
DOI: 10.1136/bmjqs-2022-015573 -
Anesthesiology Clinics Dec 2023Clinician well-being and patient safety are intricately linked. We propose that organizational factors (ie, elements of the perioperative work environment and culture)... (Review)
Review
Clinician well-being and patient safety are intricately linked. We propose that organizational factors (ie, elements of the perioperative work environment and culture) affect both, as opposed to a bidirectional causal relationship. Threats to patient safety and clinician well-being include clinician mental health issues, negative work environments, poor teamwork and communication, and staffing shortages. Opportunities to mitigate these threats include the normalization of mental health care, peer support, psychological safety, just culture, teamwork and communication training, and creative staffing approaches.
Topics: Humans; Patient Safety; Communication; Patient Care Team
PubMed: 37838381
DOI: 10.1016/j.anclin.2023.05.003 -
Critical Care Clinics Jul 2024The hospital rapid response system (RRS) is a patient safety and quality intervention that responds quickly to clinical deteriorations on general wards with the goal of... (Review)
Review
The hospital rapid response system (RRS) is a patient safety and quality intervention that responds quickly to clinical deteriorations on general wards with the goal of preventing cardiopulmonary arrests, reducing hospital mortality, and facilitating triage and level of care escalations. The RRS is one of the first organized, and systematic, elements of the "ICU without walls" model. RRSs have been shown to be effective in preventing deterioration to cardiopulmonary arrest on general hospital wards and reducing total and unexpected hospital mortality. Recent studies have demonstrated that this benefit can be enhanced through targeted improvements and modifications of existing RRSs.
Topics: Humans; Hospital Rapid Response Team; Heart Arrest; Hospital Mortality; Intensive Care Units; Patient Safety; Triage
PubMed: 38796229
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccc.2024.03.008 -
BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.) Aug 2023
Topics: Humans; Whistleblowing; Patient Safety
PubMed: 37643769
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.p1972 -
Journal of Nursing Management Apr 2020This review aimed to elucidate the effectiveness of structured handovers in improving patient outcomes in the wards.
AIM
This review aimed to elucidate the effectiveness of structured handovers in improving patient outcomes in the wards.
BACKGROUND
Studies have reported that the lack of quality handovers is one of the main causes of adverse effects.
EVALUATION
A search over six electronic databases: MEDLINE; CINAHL; Web of Science; EMBASE; Scopus; and CENTRAL via Ovid concluded nine studies and synthesized by two independent reviewers based on the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement was used to guide the undertaking of this review and meta-analysis. All studies published up to February 2019 were considered in this review.
KEY ISSUES
This review has demonstrated that structured handovers reduced the incidences of patient complications, medication errors and general adverse events. However, the results were not statistically significant.
CONCLUSION
Current structured handover formats were effective in reducing problematic handovers such as omission of information, inaccurate information and documentation errors.
IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT
Although there is limited high-quality and rigorous research conducted to gain a clearer understanding of the impacts on patient-related outcomes in nursing care, structured handovers remained effective in reducing the number of mistakes in information transfer.
Topics: Humans; Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Patient Handoff; Patient Safety; Social Skills
PubMed: 31859377
DOI: 10.1111/jonm.12936 -
Nature Medicine Sep 2022
Topics: Diffusion of Innovation; Humans; Organizational Innovation; Patient Safety
PubMed: 36131031
DOI: 10.1038/s41591-022-02020-w -
Emergency Medicine Clinics of North... Aug 2020Emergency medicine is a high-risk area of medical practice, with a high rate of preventable adverse events. This is multifactorial, hinging on the myriad system and... (Review)
Review
Emergency medicine is a high-risk area of medical practice, with a high rate of preventable adverse events. This is multifactorial, hinging on the myriad system and processes issues that complicate emergency care. Strong teamwork and communication have been identified as critical components for safe care in emergency medicine. Health care professionals and leaders within emergency medicine can implement solutions aimed at cultivating a strong safety culture, creating processes and system-based approaches to improve patient safety. This article provides an overview of the evidence-based approaches to improve patient safety and communication.
Topics: Communication; Emergency Service, Hospital; Humans; Hydrocephalus; Organizational Culture; Patient Care Team; Patient Safety; Practice Guidelines as Topic
PubMed: 32616288
DOI: 10.1016/j.emc.2020.04.007 -
Health Informatics Journal Dec 2020The use of novel health information technology provides avenues for potentially significant patient benefit. However, it is also timely to take a step back and to...
The use of novel health information technology provides avenues for potentially significant patient benefit. However, it is also timely to take a step back and to consider whether the use of these technologies is safe - or more precisely what the current evidence for their safety is, and what kinds of evidence we should be looking for in order to create a convincing argument for patient safety. This special issue on patient safety includes eight papers that demonstrate an increasing focus on qualitative approaches and a growing recognition that the sociotechnical lens of examining health information technology-associated change is important. We encourage a balanced approach to technology adoption that embraces innovation, but nonetheless insists upon suitable concerns for safety and evaluation of outcomes.
Topics: Humans; Medical Informatics; Patient Safety; Technology
PubMed: 31581891
DOI: 10.1177/1460458219876183