Ostomy/wound management
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Ostomy/wound management · Nov 2010
Disaster management, triage-based wound care, and patient safety: reflections on practice following an earthquake.
Triage is the process of prioritizing patient care based on need and available resources. Clinicians in wound clinics triage daily because time and resources never seem to be sufficient. The triage concept is taken to an extreme when a disaster strikes--the clinical goal of patient care transforms from the individual patient to providing the greatest good for the greatest number of patients. ⋯ The rate of under- and over-triage in wound clinics can be reduced by utilizing commonly collected outcomes and operational data. Patient safety improves when the hierarchy is flattened, communication is open, checklists are used, debriefings are held, and teamwork is encouraged. Reflecting on the working conditions in Haiti, it is clear that patients and clinicians benefit when success is measured by patient outcomes instead of individual accomplishments.