Patient Safety and Quality

Patient Safety and Quality

1. Safe environment

   • Adequate oxygen, nutrition, and temperature

2. Environmental Hazards

   • Physical Hazards: Motor Vehicle Accidents, Poison, Falls
   • Transmission of Pathogens: Hands or Body Fluid
   • Pollution

3. Specific risks to developmental age

   • Infant, Toddler, Preschooler: Poisoning, choking
   • School-Age Child: Head injuries (No helmet when riding bicycle)
   • Adult: threats related to lifestyle habit (smoking, alcohol, stress)
   • Older Adult: Falls due to physiological, psychological, and cognitive changes from aging, medication, and acute and chronic disease

4. Restraint Assessment

   • Legality and reasoning
   • Reduced risk of injury from fall
   • Prevented interruption of treatment (ex. IV, NG tube, or Foley catheterization)
   • Prevent removal of restraint for confused or combative patients
   • Reduced risk of injury for others

5. Safety Risks in Healthcare Agency

   • Falls
   • Patient-Inherent Accident: Patient primary reason
   • Procedure-Related Accidents- Error by healthcare provider, medication, improper performance of procedure
   • Equipment-Related Accidents- Equipment malfunction

6. Assessment of activities designed to identify a patient’s physical, psycho-social, and cognitive status as it pertains to his or her safety

   • Activity and Exercise?
   • Medication History
   • History of Falls?
   • Home Maintenance and Safety?

7. Nursing Diagnosis with Safety Risks

   • "Risk of Injury"
   • "Risk for Poisoning"
   • "Risk for Trauma"
   • "Home Management Impaired"

8. Care Plan

   • Goals and Outcomes
   • Setting Priorities
   • Teamwork and Collaboration
   • Health Promotion

9. Interventions

   • Developmental Intervention
   • Environmental Intervention
     • Fire: No smoking, keep combustibles away from heat source
     • Electrical hazards: Inspection of equipment
     • Seizures: Intensive monitoring and treatment

10. Knowledge, Skill, Attitude

    • Knowledge of medication and therapies, safe environment
    • Skills to preform proper procedures
    • Attitude: Humility when rethinking unsuccessful interventions designed to promote patient safety, responsibility when accurately evaluating nursing interventions designed to promote patient safety