| Carol Butcher knows that when patients arrive at Harrison Medical Center they're often frightened and vulnerable. The registered nurse, who oversees patient safety at Harrison's three campuses, has a message for them: We do everything we can to provide exceptional — and exceptionally safe — care.
“Patient safety is the basis of everything we do,” Butcher says. “Our patients put their trust in us when they walk through the door because of who we are and what we do. They deserve to know we take that trust seriously.”
Harrison is one of 2,800 hospitals nationwide participating in the 100K Lives Campaign, an initiative of the nonprofit Institute for Healthcare Improvement. The campaign focuses on six areas of opportunity to improve patient safety and decrease hospital-acquired infections and medical errors; the 18-month effort ends in June 2006. Harrison has created six committees to study each of the campaign's areas of emphasis.
The campaign reinforces many procedures Harrison already has in place, says Butcher, including safety measures built into blood transfusions, medication administration, and fall-prevention and wound-care programs. Additionally, Harrison:
Has a chest-pain protocol for assessment and treatment, which enables heart attack victims to get needed interventions quickly to save lives. (Harrison's average “door-to-balloon” time — the period between arrival and lifesaving treatment — is significantly under the national time.)
- Uses pre-printed physician orders for inpatients whenever possible to eliminate illegible handwriting.
- Has eliminated the use of abbreviations that might be misinterpreted.
- Uses electronic medicine-dispensing machines to ensure the right medication for each patient.
- Has a “lift” team specially trained to help with lifting patients, preventing injuries to the patient and caregiver.
- Raises the head of the bed 30 to 45 degrees of patients on ventilators to decrease the risk of aspiration and pneumonia.
- Has accident-prevention training during the annual employee safety carnival.
“Our involvement in the 100K Lives Campaign won't necessitate policy changes but rather a change in culture to build evidence-based best practices into all the care we provide,” Butcher says. “Every interaction with a patient should be aimed at giving 100 percent appropriate care, thus eliminating all avoidable medical errors.”
When a mistake does happen, a medical team investigates to determine the root cause so it can be prevented.
In addition to the safety measures in place, Harrison also encourages patients to take an active role in their healthcare with “speak-up” philosophy, explains Butcher. “We encourage patients to ask questions about their care, procedures they may not understand and about their medicine. At the same time, we encourage patients to hold us accountable via patient-satisfaction surveys when they're released from the hospital.”
Just as the procedures that guard patient safety at Harrison were in place before the 100K Lives Campaign, they will be in place long after. “Harrison's commitment is never ending, and we'll always incorporate lessons learned and best practices as part of what we do best every day,” says Butcher. “And that is providing exceptional medical care to our patients.”. | 