JCAHO announces 2006 patient safety goals
JCAHO announces 2006 patient safety goals
Encourage caregivers to report safety concerns
Not only should home care staff members be alert to patient safety concerns, they also should make sure family members and other caregivers are able to report safety concerns to agency staff members, according to the new goal set for home care agencies in the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organization’s 2006 National Patient Safety Goals.
The goal states that agencies should "encourage the active involvement of patients and their families in the patient’s care as a patient safety strategy."
"The majority of home care agencies will find that they already have a process in place to meet this goal. They just need to review it to make sure that it enables caregivers to express concerns or questions — not just complaints," says
Maryanne L. Popovich, RN, MPH, executive director of the Joint Commission’s Home Care Accreditation Program.
While most agencies have a process through which caregivers can voice complaints about service, it is important that the agency also tell caregivers how they can voice concerns about safety issues, she explains.
"This differs from complaints about the agency because the concerns about safety may be patient-related issues that the nurse may not discover in the patient assessment," Popovich says.
"For example, a caregiver may be aware that the patient doesn’t take medications correctly, but the only way the nurse will know that there is a concern is for the caregiver to have a time and a way for the caregiver to express the concern." The key to meeting this goal is to make sure your caregivers and family members know that sharing their concerns about medication or slight changes in mental state can be safety issues as well as health care issues, she adds.
"This ties in with the goals related to medication and falls," Popovich points out. "As a nurse is talking with the patient and caregiver, it is important to ask about medication and look around to see if there is anything in the environment that might contribute to a fall," she says.
As the nurse performs the environmental assessment, he or she should explain that, if the caregiver notices that the oxygen tubing is too long or is placed in a way that might cause a fall, the caregiver should let the nurse know, notes Popovich.
"Use specific examples of safety issues the caregiver may notice so that identification of the issues when the nurse is not in the home is easier," she suggests.
Another new goal relates to improvement of communication between caregivers. Home health agencies must have a way to hand off care of a patient to another caregiver that allows the receiving caregiver to ask questions to make sure the information is clear. The handoff includes discharge to family caregivers or admission to a hospital or a nursing facility.
Two requirements from the 2005 patient safety goals were eliminated, Popovich explains.
"The requirement to remove concentrated electrolytes from patient care areas and the requirement to ensure free-flow protection of patient-controlled analgesia pumps were removed because our accreditation surveys have shown a high level of compliance and a reduction of risk to patient safety," she says.
Overall compliance with home care patient safety goals is increasing each year, Popovich continues.
"The requirement related to standardization of abbreviations is still the toughest one to meet for all organizations," she says.
While agencies are making progress, changing the long-term behavior and practice of clinicians is a challenge that will take many steps and time, Popovich admits.
The 2006 National Patient Safety Goals were developed with the input of health care professionals from a wide range of organizations, and
a field review of proposed goals enabled home health personnel to give their input, Popovich points out.
She does encourage home health professionals who have suggestions for safety goals that should be considered to contact her so their ideas can
be evaluated before the proposed goals are developed.
"Suggestions don’t have to be based on formal studies, but can just be related to issues that home care agencies deal with on a daily basis. The best way to find out what safety issues are faced by home health agencies is to have them help us identify them," Popovich adds.
[For more information about Home Care National Patient Safety Goals, contact:
- Maryanne L. Popovich, RN, MPH, Executive Director, Home Care Accreditation Program, Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, One Renaissance Blvd.,
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181. Phone: (630) 792-5742. Fax: (630) 792-5005. E-mail: [email protected].]
Encourage caregivers to report safety concerns Not only should home care staff members be alert to patient safety concerns, they also should make sure family members and other caregivers are able to report safety concerns to agency staff members, according to the new goal set for home care agencies in the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations 2006 National Patient Safety Goals. The goal states that agencies should encourage the active involvement of patients and their families in the patients care as a patient safety strategy.Subscribe Now for Access
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