Infection Prevention & Control
This type of pneumonia develops in patients receiving mechanical ventilation and is a major target of ICU infection prevention efforts.
What is ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)?
This type of quality measure evaluates whether a specific healthcare service or intervention was provided, such as administering antibiotics before surgery.
What is a process measure?
This type of serious patient safety event results in death or severe harm and signals the need for immediate investigation and system-level response.
What is a sentinel event?
This communication skill requires clinicians to fully focus on a patient’s words, tone, and nonverbal cues to ensure understanding and build trust.
What is active listening?
This abbreviation refers to a standard blood test measuring red cells, white cells, and platelets.
What is CBC?
This device-associated infection accounts for the majority of healthcare-associated urinary tract infections and is commonly linked to prolonged catheter use.
What is a catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI)?
This statistical tool expands on run charts by incorporating upper and lower control limits to distinguish common versus special cause variation.
What is a control chart?
This organizational model emphasizes preoccupation with failure, deference to frontline expertise, and resilience in high-risk environments such as healthcare.
What is a high-reliability organization (HRO)?
This capability refers to a patient’s ability to obtain, understand, and use health information to make appropriate decisions about their care.
What is health literacy?
This abbreviation means four times per day.
What is QID?
This organism is a major cause of healthcare-associated diarrhea and is known for forming spores that persist on surfaces for prolonged periods.
What is Clostridioides difficile (C. diff)?
This quality improvement tool organizes contributing factors by frequency or impact, helping teams focus on the “vital few” causes that drive most problems.
What is a Pareto chart?
This term refers to system-level weaknesses that remain hidden until they contribute to an error, often described as “holes” in the Swiss cheese model.
What are latent errors (or latent conditions)?
This approach to care ensures that treatment decisions align with a patient’s individual preferences, values, and needs.
What is patient-centered care?
This abbreviation describes altered awareness or confusion and is frequently used in clinical notes.
What is AMS?
This infection prevention strategy involves testing patients for multidrug-resistant organisms even when they have no symptoms, in order to identify carriers and prevent transmission.
What is colonization screening?
This CMS program financially rewards or penalizes hospitals based on performance across domains such as safety, experience, and outcomes.
What is Value-Based Purchasing (VBP)?
This concept focuses on designing systems that anticipate human error rather than blaming individuals after an incident.
What is a systems-based approach to safety?
This factor is consistently identified as the most influential driver of patient experience during hospitalization, including clarity, empathy, and responsiveness.
What is communication?
This abbreviation indicates a heart attack involving full-thickness myocardial injury with ST elevation on ECG.
What is STEMI?
National infection surveillance in U.S. hospitals is primarily conducted through this CDC system that tracks healthcare-associated infections and benchmarking data.
What is the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)?
This widely cited framework defines healthcare quality across six domains, including safety, effectiveness, timeliness, efficiency, equity, and patient-centeredness.
What is the STEEEP framework?
This proactive risk assessment method evaluates potential failures in a process before they occur to reduce harm.
What is Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)?
This type of follow-up interaction after discharge, such as a phone call or outpatient check-in, is associated with improved trust, adherence, and reduced readmissions.
What is post-discharge follow-up (or care transition follow-up)?
NSAIDS should not be administered in conjunction with these medications.
What are anticoagulants?