Principles of Patient Safety

Flashcards reviewing key concepts from a lecture on patient safety.

What is Patient Safety?

A healthcare discipline that aims to prevent and reduce risks, errors, and harm to patients during healthcare provision.

What is World Patient Safety Day?

Observed on 17 September each year to increase public awareness, enhance global understanding, and encourage global solidarity for patient safety.

What was the goal of the WHO's 'Clean Care is Safer Care' initiative (2005)?

Reducing healthcare-associated infections through improved hand hygiene.

What was the focus of the WHO's 'Safe Surgery Saves Lives' initiative (2008)?

Reducing risks associated with surgery.

What was the aim of the WHO's 'Medication Without Harm' initiative (2017)?

Reducing severe, avoidable harm related to medications globally by 50% over five years.

What was the aim of the WHO's 'Patient Safety: a global health priority' initiative (2019)?

To mobilize various stakeholders to speak up for patient safety.

What is the focus of the WHO's 'Health Worker Safety: A Priority for Patient Safety' initiative (2020)?

Focuses on the interrelationship between health worker safety and patient safety, with the slogan 'Safe health workers, Safe patients.'

What is the focus of WHO's 'Patient Safety: Safe maternal and newborn care' (2021)?

Prioritizing safety in maternal and newborn care, particularly around childbirth.

In high-income countries, what is the estimated rate of patient harm during hospital care?

One in every 10 patients is harmed while receiving hospital care, nearly 50% of them being preventable.

Globally, 4 in 10 patients are harmed in primary and outpatient health care. What are the errors related to?

Diagnosis, prescription, and the use of medicines.

What are some examples of unsafe medication practices and errors?

Incorrect dosages, unclear instructions, use of abbreviations, and inappropriate prescriptions.

What are some causes of equipment related accidents in healthcare?

Malfunction, disrepair, misuse of equipment, and electrical hazards.

What is the definition of patient safety?

The absence of preventable harm to a patient during the process of health care.

What is an Adverse Event?

An injury caused by medical management or complication instead of the underlying disease.

Give some examples of serious adverse events in healthcare.

Delayed or missed diagnoses, medication errors, wrong-side surgery, and patient falls.

Give examples of 'Never Events' in healthcare.

Retention of foreign object following surgery, intravascular air embolism, and blood incompatibility.

Give examples of procedure related accidents.

Medication administration errors, improper application of devices and improper performance of procedures.

List some Preventive measures for equipment related accidents.

Tag faulty equipment, Conduct regular safety checks and Provide training to new equipment.

List the six International Patient Safety Goals

Identify Patients Correctly, Improve Staff Communication, Improve the Safety of High-Alert Medications, Ensure Safe Surgery, Reduce the Risk of Health Care-associated Infections, Identify patient safety risks

What are the top five high-alert medications?

Insulin, Narcotics, Injectable potassium chloride concentrated, Intravenous anticoagulant, Sodium chloride solutions above 0.9 %

What are the 7 Rights of medication administration?

Right patient, Right medication, Right time, Right route, Right dosage, Right frequency, Right documentation

List Key steps when ensuring safe surgery.

Marking the surgical site, A pre – operative verification process, A time – out that is held immediately before the start of a procedure

What is clinical risk management?

The identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated application of resources to minimize their impact.

What does incident reporting and monitoring involve?

Collecting and analyzing information about an adverse event that could have harmed or did harm a patient.

List some strategies for incident reporting.

Anonymous reporting of near misses, Timely feedback by leadership on actions to prevent same errors and Public acknowledgment of successes of organization’s reporting