Safety Initiatives
See also Medication Safety, Infection Control, and Health Information Technology.
Listed below are the most current and relevant resources on infection control. For a complete list of all the resources ever listed on this page, view the MIPS TIPS Research Digest complete list of safety initiatives resources.
REPORTS
The Safer Patients Initiative has been run in two phases - the first starting in 2004 and including four hospitals, the second starting in 2006 and including 20 hospitals. The initiative is designed to make patient safety central to the delivery of care.
ARTICLES
IMPLEMENTING INITIATIVES
Active surveillance using electronic triggers to detect adverse events in hospitalized patients. Abstract
Describes a method for the prompt detection of adverse events occurring during hospital admissions.
Nurse Shift Report: Who says you can’t talk in front of the patient? Abstract
Describes the benefits of making the patient’s bedside the site of nurses’ shift-to-shift reports.
Development and Implementation of a Pediatric Patient Safety Program. Abstract
Describes the organizational aspects of implementing one successful program.
Toronto Hospital Reduces Sharps Injuries by 80%, Eliminates Blood Collection Injuries. Abstract
Describes a successful safety initiative.
EVALUATING INITIATIVES
Findings of the First Consensus Conference on Medical Emergency Teams. Abstract
Panellists agreed that hospitals should implement rapid response strategies, and made recommendations for their design.
Hospital Quality for Acute Myocardial Infarction: Correlation among process measures and relationship with short-term mortality. Abstract
Quality process measures were significantly correlated with short-term mortality rates, but accounted for only a small proportion of the total variance in these rates.
PERSPECTIVES
ON SAFETY INITIATIVES
No Hidden Patient: Facility design for safety. Full Text
Recommends that hospitals be designed to make it easy for clinical staff to see and reach all patients.
Rapid Response Teams: Walk, don’t run Abstract
Argues that rigorous research on the effectiveness of RRTs should be conducted before they are implemented in additional hospitals.
MRI Suites: Safety outside the bore. Full Text
Improving the design of MRI suites can decrease the probability of accidents.
How a Rapid Response Team Saves Lives. Full Text
Describes the need for and operation of a rapid response team.
Are Rapid Response Teams Simply a Bandage on a Bigger Problem? Abstract.
Acknowledges the success of rapid response teams but argues that certain underlying problems must be addressed.
Patient Safety in the Physician Office Setting Full Text
Discusses safety concerns involved in prescribing medications and processing diagnostic tests.
A Short Call Could Make the Difference. Full Text
Advocates that physicians make a follow-up call after discharge to ensure that vulnerable patients understand their treatment regimes.
Physical Diagnosis: A lost art? Full Text
Argues that the availability of sophisticated diagnostic technology, combined with the pressure for doctors to work quickly, has led doctors to put too little emphasis on physical examination.
