Patient Care Safety, Protocol, and Emergency Response Notes

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering patient safety, clinical standards, restraint usage, burn and fall prevention, recognition of abuse, coworker impairment signs, and emergency action protocols.

The Joint Commission

An organization that continues to improve patient safety and quality of care by regularly updating healthcare standards, addressing patients' rights, education, and operational improvement, as well as setting requirements for patient identification, communication of test results, repetitive personnel training, and active communication between PCT and provider.

The Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute

An organization that provides operational standards for laboratory testing and works in coordination with industry and health care professionals to ensure awareness of the most up-to-date information and safest methods for performing blood tests.

CDC & OSHA

Agencies that established guidelines for infection control, personal protective equipment, exposure protocols, and medical examinations.

Facility Policy & Procedure Manuals

Accessible compilations available in electronic or hard copy format that must be adhered to and allow for quick access to facility standards.

Fall Prevention Precautions

General safety measures including non-skid slippers and shoes, keeping rooms and bathrooms lit, ensuring access to and use of call lights, wearing eye glasses, immediately cleaning fluid spills, using gait belts, instructing hand rail use, removing clutter, assisting high-risk patients, and keeping bedside tables within reach.

Burn Prevention Protocol

Safety standards requiring checking bath and shower water temperature between $105^\top$ and $43.3^\top$, placing a cloth or towel between heating devices and skin, prohibiting patients from sleeping with heating pads or using them on high, warning patients about hot foods, and providing lids on cups.

Restraints Guidelines

Protective devices applied to ankles, wrists, chest, or hands that must be padded, fit 2 fingers, never be attached to bed side rails or applied for staff convenience, must be removed every 2 hours, and checked for blood flow every 15 minutes.

Exploitation

Taking advantage of a vulnerable individual for the abuser's personal gain.

Types of Abuse

Categories of patient mistreatment identified as Basic Rights, Sexual, Financial, Physical, and Psychological or emotional abuse.

Physical Signs of Abuse and Neglect

Indicators including lack of personal care, malnutrition, dehydration, restraint trauma (abrasions, welts, rope burns), over-sedation/medication, pressure sores on bony prominences (coccyx, elbow, hips), and overt signs of trauma (scratches, bruises, fractures, unexplained rectal or vaginal bleeding).

Behavioral Signs of Abuse and Neglect

Observable issues including unusual repetitive behaviors, signs of caregiver control (not allowing the patient to speak or answering for them), signs of undue anxiety (trembling, lack of eye contact, helplessness, thoughts of suicide, evasiveness), and inconsistencies in explanations of how injuries occurred.

Signs of Coworker Substance Use

Indicators that a coworker may be under the influence, including lack of concentration, inability to complete tasks, verbal abusiveness or roughness, unexplained errands, withdrawal signs (shaking, nausea, anxiety, sweating), emotional changes, excessive lengthy breaks, deteriorating personal appearance, and excessive absenteeism.

RACE

The fire response acronym standing for: R - Rescue, A - Activate Alarms, C - Confine (close doors & windows), E - Extinguish fire.

PASS

The acronym for operating a fire extinguisher: P - Pull pin, A - Aim the nozzle, S - Squeeze the handle, S - Sweep from side to side to target fire.

Active Shooter Response

Emergency protocol consisting of three steps: Run (leave possessions), Hide (stay with patient and hide), and Fight (as a last resort).