Engage Fundamentals: Safety Concepts in Nursing Practice

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering nursing safety regulatory bodies, error classifications, restraint types, safety screening tools, and precautions.

The Joint Commission (TJC)

An impartial national organization established in 1951 that accredits hospitals and healthcare facilities based on their safety performance, policies, procedures, practice, and outcomes.

National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG)

Safety practices initiated in 2002 by The Joint Commission to establish relevant safety goals that healthcare institutions should accomplish and routinely practice as Standards of Compliance.

Near Miss

A potential error, event, or circumstance that could have caused harm to a patient but was caught and avoided.

Client Safety Event

An unexpected event or circumstance that occurred with or without injury to the patient.

Adverse Event

A situation or circumstance that caused unexpected harm to the client.

Sentinel Event

A critical, unexpected adverse event that caused severe physical or psychological harm to a patient, including death, dismemberment, permanent injury, or severe temporary injury.

Root-Cause-Analysis (RCA)

A review process used to probe potential or actual errors, determine whether human error or systems failure led to the incident, and establish a corrective action plan.

Alarm Fatigue

A phenomenon where healthcare staff become desensitized or unresponsive to clinical alarm sounds, which can lead to delayed intervention and critical patient outcomes.

CAUTI

Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection.

CLABSI

Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infection.

Morse Fall Scale

A clinical screening tool used by healthcare facilities to assess a client's risk for falling.

Braden Scale

A clinical screening tool used to assess a client's tissue integrity and risk for developing pressure injuries.

Physical Restraint

Manually holding or immobilizing a client using physical strength as a protective measure during procedures or injections.

Mechanical Restraint

The use of materials, straps, fabric, or leather devices fastened around a client's wrists or ankles to limit freedom of movement for safety.

Chemical Restraint

Medication used to calm, reduce movement, and control behavior, such as benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, or neuromuscular blocking agents.

Barrier Restraint

Restraining a client's movement within a setting using structural barriers, such as concave mattresses or lapboards attached to chairs.

Seclusion

Placing a client in safe surroundings where they are confined or isolated in a securely locked room without their consent to protect them from injury.

Aspiration

The act of inhaling food, fluid, saliva, or other foreign objects into the lungs.

Seizure

Abnormal electrical activity in the brain that may present as loss of awareness or severe unconsciousness and uncontrollable physical convulsions.

Active Shooter Preparedness

An emergency response protocol defined by the sequence: Run, Hide, Fight.

NDNQI

The National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators, which tracks nursing quality and safety performance metrics.

QSEN

Quality & Safety Education for Nurses, an initiative designed to enhance nursing curriculum and competencies in safety and care quality.