Qual Saf Health Care
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Medication administration errors (MAEs) occur in 3-8% of all non-intravenous drug doses given in UK hospitals; higher rates have been reported for intravenous drugs. Educational interventions are often advocated as one way of reducing these rates. However, group education sessions are often not practical. We developed internet-based educational modules on drug safety, and evaluated their effect on MAEs. ⋯ An interactive educational package focusing on patient safety was developed, with a high rate of uptake among nursing staff on the study ward. A reduction in non-intravenous MAEs was observed after the use of the package, but no significant change was seen in the overall error rate.
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Qual Saf Health Care · Oct 2006
Healthcare provider complaints to the emergency department: a preliminary report on a new quality improvement instrument.
Patient complaints to the emergency department (ED) have been well studied as indicators of quality. However, no study of complaints from healthcare providers (physicians, nurses and hospital administrators) has been published. Given their experience and expertise, healthcare providers are uniquely positioned to provide informed opinions about patient care. We present 1 year's results from a system initiated to capture healthcare providers' complaints, respond systematically, and integrate them into our quality program. ⋯ Healthcare workers' complaints highlight an aspect of customer care that is sometimes overlooked-that which we provide to other services. The complaints relate primarily to patient care issues, frequently raising concerns requiring intervention. This underused source of information presents a potential wealth of opportunity for quality improvement and customer service in the ED.
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Qual Saf Health Care · Oct 2006
Reduced morbidity for elderly patients with a hip fracture after implementation of a perioperative evidence-based clinical pathway.
Hip fractures, common in the elderly population, result in significant morbidity and mortality. A study was undertaken to determine how an evidence based clinical pathway (CP) for treatment of elderly patients with hip fracture affected morbidity, in-hospital mortality, and health service utilization. ⋯ Implementation of an evidence based clinical pathway reduced postoperative morbidity and did not affect in-hospital mortality or overall costs of inpatient care. The effect of changing trends in medical care cannot be ruled out, but the reduction in complications in several clinical areas lends support to the positive impact of the clinical pathway. Perioperative CP is one successful management approach for this fragile patient population as patient morbidity was reduced without negatively affecting resource utilization.