How to Keep Patients Safe

Understanding and controlling risk are critical to patient safety. Each of us has been avoiding risks since childhood. When a mother takes the hand of a child when crossing the street, she is practicing risk avoidance. Brushing your teeth and flossing everyday are practicing risk avoidance. Risk avoidance is not difficult in the healthcare setting, but it requires careful thought, observation, and planning.

Sources of risk exposure in a physician’s office can be either direct or indirect. An example of a direct risk is failure to document a patient’s allergy to a medication. By failing to document the allergy, the patient could be harmed if he or she is given the medication. An example of an indirect risk is a chair with wheels in the exam room. If a child or an unstable adult attempts to sit in the chair, he or she could fall and be injured.

Injury to patients is the primary cause of litigation. Good patient care requires that patients are kept safe. Harm to patients can be prevented. When a potential risk is identified, there are two steps that should be taken to ensure patient safety. First, the cause of a potential injury must be removed immediately; and second, notify your supervisor or the physician so that permanent steps can be taken to avoid a recurrence of the risk. If every risk of injury is approached in this manner, a large number of patient injuries will be prevented.

Patients can be injured in a variety of ways. Examples include unsafe facility conditions, unsafe practices, inadequate documentation in the patient’s record, inappropriate comments to the patient or family, failure to report incidents when they occur, and breach of patient confidentiality. Even when such conduct does not constitute a direct danger to patients, it increases liability and warrants a thorough evaluation and, in some cases, a change in policy.

Providing a safe, secure environment pertains to both the patient’s physical and mental well-being. Patients need to know that they are in good hands, that their confidentiality and privacy will be maintained, and that they will receive the best possible care.

Tips for Providing a Safe Environment for Patients:

• Do a daily walk-through of the facilities to look for possible risk conditions. Many adverse events can be prevented by careful observation.
• Ensure that rugs and furniture are stable.
• Make sure that all foot traffic areas are open with no obstructions.
• Check and calibrate all new equipment prior to use.
• Remove all malfunctioning equipment from service and test before re-use.
• Identify all exits and keep them unobstructed.

Tips for Providing Quality Medical Care to and for Meeting the Needs of Patients:

• Document important patient information.
• Notify healthcare providers of patients’ questions concerning their health care.
• Provide patient education materials when appropriate.
• Notify others when the patient or family expresses dissatisfaction.
• Listen to patient, and show interest in what he or she has to say.
• Complete an incident report when appropriate, and enlist the aid of your supervisor or risk management personnel.