Medication Safety
This category of medications, which includes Insulin, Heparin, and Anticoagulants, carries a heightened risk of causing significant patient harm if used in error.
What are High-Alert Medications?
To reduce the risk of error, this medication safety process requires a second nurse to verify high-alert medications without being told what the first nurse found.
What is an Independent Double-Check of High-Alert Medications?
These change agents are frontline staff who bridge the gap between research and practice by advocating for the use of BPGs.
What are BPSO Champions?
This primary assessment is conducted at the start of every shift to evaluate clinical status and establish a baseline for patient care.
What is a Head-to-Toe Assessment?
This communication framework is used for every patient interaction to decrease anxiety and build trust.
What is AIDET?
This fundamental medication safety practice involves verifying a patient’s identity using at least two approved identifiers prior to administering any medication.
What is patient identification using two identifiers?
To ensure patient safety, this fundamental process involves creating an accurate and complete list of a patient's medications at all transition points, including Admission, Transfer, and Discharge.
What is Medication Reconciliation?
Part of People-Centred Care, this document allows patients to express their future wishes for medical treatments if they become incapable.
What is an Advanced Directive?
This clinical tool quantifies an older adult's level of frailty by comparing their current functional ability to their status two weeks prior to hospital admission.
What is the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS)?
This type of note must be written using the DARP format to capture any clinical information not captured in flowsheets or assessment forms.
What is a Progress Note?
To perform any medication practice, the CNO requires nurses to meet these three specific standards: ensuring they have a direct order or medical directive, the necessary knowledge, and a commitment to minimizing risk.
What are Authority, Competence, and Safety?
To minimize risk of CAUTI, this policy requires changing Foley catheters every 4 weeks and cleansing sampling ports with chlorhexidine before specimen collection.
What is the Urinary Catheterization?
This is the first step in BPG implementation, where we compare our current practices to the latest evidence-based recommendations.
What is a Gap Analysis?
This evidence-based assessment tool is used on admission and weekly thereafter to identify a patient’s risk for developing a pressure injury.
What is the Braden Scale?
This communication framework must be used when escalating concerns during physician calls, patient transfers, or discharges.
What is SBAR?
This type of reporting is required for "Near Misses" to help identify system gaps rather than blaming individual nurses.
What is AEMS reporting?
Nurses are required to contact the prescriber for clarification if a medication order is unclear or illegible before the order is carried out.
What is the Medication Administration?
This BPG was implemented to ensure that pain is screened, assessed, and managed using validated tools for all patients.
What is the Assessment and Management of Pain BPG?
To score a positive result on this screening tool, a patient must exhibit an acute onset of mental status changes AND inattention, plus either disorganized thinking or an altered level of consciousness.
What is the CAM-S?
This safety process occurs at every handover or shift change, requires a verbal and visual transfer of responsibility for patient care between providers.
What is Transfer of Accountability?
This complication of anticoagulant therapy, particularly with heparin products, involves a significant drop in platelets and increased risk of thrombosis.
What is heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT)?
Manual lifting of patients is to be avoided; instead, staff must use appropriate mechanical lifts and transfer aids based on the patient's mobility status.
What is the Safe Patient Minimal Lift Policy?
This standardized 6-phase framework is the gold standard used by BPSOs to guide the implementation of Best Practice Guidelines.
What is the Knowledge-to-Action (KTA) Framework?
This validated tool is used specifically to assess pain in patients with advanced dementia or those who are unable to verbally communicate their needs.
What is the PAINAD Scale?
This document aligns all interprofessional team members on the specific goals and interventions for the patient.
What is Interprofessional Care Plan?