Easy Win
These are a list of significant problems in health care safety that are updated yearly by the Joint Commission. We have them hanging in several places in the clinic.
What are the National Patient Safety Goals?
This document resides in the red book and on the clinic profile, it tells the story of the clinic, the patients we see, available staff, explains are standard of care, licensing of staff, and how we monitor how well we meet our patient's needs.
What is our Scope of Care?
Verifying the patients's name, DOB, and procedure BEFORE the procedure starts. We do not have any procedures that require this in our clinic.
What is a Time-Out?
Checking double identifiers and the test performed in front of the patient. Our patients are sent to labcorp and we do not fill these out.
What are the components of labeling a specimen?
Thes are stored in yellow bins and separated to prevent confusion, not right beside each other. They are similar in spelling or appearance.
What are Look Alike Sound Alike (LASA) medications?
These are checked on every patient every time and during the visit, it include the patient name and DOB. They are one of the NPSG's.
What are double identifiers?
Call 911, know where the AED and oxygen is located, start BLS, and we practice in a code blue drill yearly.
What do we do in a life-threatening emergency?
Scale of 1 to 10, the faces scale 🙂.
What are ways to assess pain that are consistent with the patient's age?
This is the most “borrowed” item in any clinic that is never returned.
What is a good pen?
The pass code is changed, and badge access is deactivated.
What happens when someone leaves the clinic that has access to the medications?
Panic buttons, Card readers for clinical access, overhead paging, jabber.
What security processes are in place if there is a security event?
A patient's wishes if they become incapacitated and the person they want to make those decisions for them.
What is an advance directive?
We report frequent injuries, broken bones, ER visits to the provider and follow the policy.
What do you do if you suspect abuse or neglect in a patient?
A physician's order that is only honored if it is accessible, we do NOT delay care to find this order, we start basic life suppot.
What is a DNR?
Medication name, strength, amount, expiration date and time.
What is written on a medication label?
Turning over paperwork, locking computers when walking away, uses shred-it bin, strong passwords.
What are ways we protect private health information?
The sign is on the medication cabinet in the supply room. The right patient, right drug, right dose, right route, right time, right indication.
What are the six rights of medication administration?
Mysteriously disappears when Joint Commissions auditors walk in the door.
What are employees?
These medications bear a higher risk of causing patient harm when they are used in error and they are identified by being in a red bin.
What are High-Alert medications?
This test involves stickers, wires, and a baby trying to dramatically remove all of them.
What is an EKG/ECG?
This is the unofficial fuel source that keeps the clinic running during a Joint Commission survey.
What is coffee?
We use paper intake forms and the BCA computer
What are our downtime procedures?
Having a patient or family repeat or teach back to you.
How do you assess a patient's or family member's understanding of their medical treatment, medications, etc?
The most popular time of day for a "quick question" from a patient, provider, or co-worker.
What is 4:15 and 4:30
Behind a locked cabinet, only authorized staff have access, label contains name, expiration date, and warnings.
How are your medications stored?