report concerns about safe patient care to

If you have any concerns about your safety or quality of care, please talk about them with your health care team. If you don’t understand the answers you receive, ask for more information. If your concerns cannot be resolved with your health care team, we encourage you to report your concerns to the management team at your medical center.

Full Answer

What are some of the patient safety situations causing most concern?

Below are some of the patient safety situations causing most concern. Medication errors are a leading cause of injury and avoidable harm in health care systems: globally, the cost associated with medication errors has been estimated at US$ 42 billion annually (10).

Why is it important to report Health and care concerns?

This is especially important if you are in a management or leadership position. A culture that positively encourages and supports health and care practitioners to report their concerns is crucial to keeping service users and carers safe. The process to report a concern depends on who and what you are concerned about.

Can nurses report unsafe health conditions and practices?

Nurse leaders and experts describe how nurses can safely report unsafe health care conditions and practices while protecting themselves professionally. Nurse practitioners and staff RNs report a variety of problems within health care facilities.

How many patients are harmed by unsafe care?

Another study has estimated that around two-thirds of all adverse events resulting from unsafe care, and the years lost to disability and death (known as disability adjusted life years, or DALYs) occur in LMICs (5). Globally, as many as 4 in 10 patients are harmed in primary and outpatient health care.

What are 5 safety concerns in healthcare?

Patient safety issues and concernsMedication/drug errors. ... Healthcare-associated infections. ... Surgical errors and postoperative complications. ... Diagnostic errors. ... Laboratory/blood testing errors. ... Fall injuries. ... Communication errors. ... Patient identification errors.

What is a patient safety concern?

Patient safety issues were commonly described surrounding the following: lack of basic nursing care, in particular in relation to feeding, hydration and pressure area care; misdiagnosis, often due to diagnostic overshadowing and communication difficulties; delayed investigations and treatment; non-treatment decisions ...

How do you report a patient event or a safety hazard in the environment?

Dial the Hotline (310) 825-9797 Follow the instructions by the voice operator and choose from the menu. A manager on call will respond based on the type of incident.

How do you provide safe care to a patient?

5 Factors that can help improve patient safety in hospitalsUse monitoring technology. ... Make sure patients understand their treatment. ... Verify all medical procedures. ... Follow proper handwashing procedures. ... Promote a team atmosphere.

What are the 3 major safety concerns for health care workers?

Healthcare workers face a wide range of hazards on the job including: Sharps injuries. Chemical and drug exposure. Back injuries.

What are the top 5 safety concerns in nursing?

Consider the top five common dangers RNs experience while on the job.Musculoskeletal injuries. The major source of injuries for RNs is musculoskeletal disorders or MSDs. ... Work overload. ... Exposure to disease. ... On-the-job violence. ... Chemical dangers.

How do you address safety concerns?

How to Address Safety Concerns with Your EmployerFollow the Chain of Command. Nothing is going to upset your boss more than you going over their head. ... Enlist an Ally. Some companies don't have safety managers or shop stewards. ... Present a Solution, Not a Complaint. ... Be Cooperative. ... Do Your Research. ... Know You are Protected.

How do I report an incident report?

2. Collect the FactsThe Basics. Identify the specific location, time and date of the incident. ... The Affected. Collect details of those involved and/or affected by the incident. ... The Witnesses. ... The Context. ... The Actions. ... The Environment. ... The Injuries. ... The Treatment.More items...•

What are reporting systems in healthcare?

Incident Reporting Systems can be used to share lessons within and across organizations. The lessons learned from IRS can be used to educate, inform, and prevent other organizations from experiencing the same adverse events. Such a system for sharing can occur at a local, regional, national, or international level.

What is the nurses role in safe care?

From a patient safety perspective, a nurse's role includes monitoring patients for clinical deterioration, detecting errors and near misses, understanding care processes and weaknesses inherent in some systems, identifying and communicating changes in patient condition, and performing countless other tasks to ensure ...

Why is safe and effective care important?

The burden of harm Every year, millions of patients suffer injuries or die because of unsafe and poor-quality health care. Many medical practices and risks associated with health care are emerging as major challenges for patient safety and contribute significantly to the burden of harm due to unsafe care.

How can you improve patient safety and quality?

5 Patient-Centered Strategies to Improve Patient SafetyAllow patients access to EHR data, clinician notes. ... Care for hospital environment. ... Create a safe patient experience. ... Create simple and timely appointment scheduling. ... Encourage family and caregiver engagement.

What is patient safety?

Patient Safety is a health care discipline that emerged with the evolving complexity in health care systems and the resulting rise of patient harm in health care facilities. It aims to prevent and reduce risks, errors and harm that occur to patients during provision of health care.

How many patients are harmed in primary care?

Globally, as many as 4 in 10 patients are harmed in primary and outpatient health care. Up to 80% of harm is preventable. The most detrimental errors are related to diagnosis, prescription and the use of medicines (6).

How many hospitalized patients have health care-associated infections?

Health care-associated infections occur in 7 and 10 out of every 100 hospitalized patients in high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries respectively (11).

What is clean care?

Clean Care is Safer Care (2005); with the goal of reducing health care-associated infection, by focusing on improved hand hygiene.

What is the WHO patient safety and risk management unit?

The Patient Safety and Risk Management unit at WHO has been instrumental in advancing and shaping the patient safety agenda globally by focusing on driving improvements in some key strategic areas through:

How many people are harmed in hospitals?

In high-income countries, it is estimated that one in every 10 patients is harmed while receiving hospital care (2). The harm can be caused by a range of adverse events, with nearly 50% of them being preventable (3).

Why is patient safety important?

Patient safety is fundamental to delivering quality essential health services. Indeed, there is a clear consensus that quality health services across the world should be effective, safe and people-centred. In addition, to realize the benefits of quality health care, health services must be timely, equitable, integrated and efficient.

Why is patient monitoring important in nursing?

Patient Safety Issues in Nursing. Patient monitoring also suffers (mostly due to nurse case overload) – negatively impacting patient safety. Improved patient monitoring can help to detect problems that arise during treatment within the care unit, and enforce rehabilitation measures before a condition worsens.

What is the benefit of having a nurse access to patient records?

When doctors and nurses can seamlessly access all patient health records (say, those from a patient’s family doctor) they can gain valuable insight into the kind of care and treatment patients will need (and what to avoid, too).

How does antibiotic resistance affect healthcare?

Antibiotic resistance can cause significant declines in patient safety and quality of care in hospitals. Implementing prevention measures, among other efforts to improve patient outcomes, should be a top priority for healthcare leaders.

How to prevent antibiotic resistance?

But it’s not just healthcare facilities that need to take a part in combating this phenomenon – policymakers, the agricultural sector, and patients play a critical role. Health professionals can help to prevent and control the spread of antibiotic resistance through: 1 Ensuring that the healthcare environment, their hands and instruments are clean 2 Prescribing and dispensing antibiotics ONLY when they are really needed 3 Reporting antibiotic-resistance to surveillance teams 4 Teaching patients about antibiotic resistance; how and why they should take antibiotics correctly 5 Educating patients on the importance of vaccination, safe sex, hand washing, and other prevention strategies

Why is it important to wash hands before and after patient contact?

Washing hands before and after patient contact is one of the basic infection control measures hospitals can enforce as a policy. Hand washing can stop the spread of bacteria, especially when all parties are diligent.

Why is there a shortage of nurses in the US?

Plain and simple, the inability of most hospitals to maintain the right nurse-patient ratios leads to nurse burnout – with the lack of personnel to keep up with demand also leading to nursing shortages across the US.

What is the first step in mitigating adverse events?

Understanding and identifying these adverse events is the first step in mitigating them – and let’s be honest, a clinic or hospital that can ensure patient safety can help provide a better experience for everyone involved, not just the patients.

How to contact Kaiser Permanente about fraud?

You can also contact Medicare for fraud-related questions and concerns at: Phone: 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477) Fax: 1-800-223-8164.

How to contact Medicare for fraud?

You can also contact Medicare for fraud-related questions and concerns at: Phone: 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477) Fax: 1-800-223-8164. TTY (for the hearing-impaired): 1-800-377-4950. Mailing address: Health and Human Services TIPS Hotline.

Does Kaiser Permanente report fraud?

Kaiser Permanente encourages you to report any concerns you have about your safety, quality of care, or privacy, as well as any suspected fraud.

What is the responsibility of reporting concerns?

Reporting concerns: your responsibility. When reporting concerns, you have a responsibility to put the safety and wellbeing of service users and carers first. We recognise that registrants take that responsibility very seriously. As a registrant, you must support and encourage others to raise concerns.

What to do if you are worried about raising a concern?

If you are worried about the impact raising a concern could have on your employment you can seek the help and advice of your professional body or union , or the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS).

Why is it important to acknowledge and act on a concern?

If someone raises a concern with you, you must acknowledge and act on it. This is especially important if you are in a management or leadership position. A culture that positively encourages and supports health and care practitioners to report their concerns is crucial to keeping service users and carers safe.

What to do if you are still worried?

If you have taken appropriate steps and are still worried, you must follow up on your concerns. If no action has been taken or you believe your concerns have not been addressed appropriately, you must escalate your concerns. For example, speak to someone more senior or raise the issue in a more formal way.

What is it important to take appropriate action?

If you are concerned about the safety or wellbeing of a service user it is important that you take appropriate action promptly, particularly if the person you are concerned about is a child or vulnerable adult . Who you approach with your concern will depend on the circumstances. It might be:

Who can report wrongdoings?

Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, workers can report wrongdoings to specified organisations with ‘prescribed person’ status, such as the HCPC or the NHS. Those who report wrongdoings in this way are protected by law.

Is it appropriate to raise an issue informally?

In some circumstances it may be appropriate to raise the issue informal ly. At other times this may not be appropriate and your approach will need to be more formal. Your professional union or professional body may also be able to give you help and guidance.

What are the concerns of the NHS?

Among the concerns raised about NHS services were: inadequate staffing levels, bullying, errors in drug administration, cases of misdiagnosis, delays in patients being examined and a lack of follow-up appointments.

How to contact CQC?

You can contact the CQC by emailing: enquiries@cqc.org.uk or telephoning: 03000 616161. The DH whistleblowing hotline is 0800 0724 725. Public Concern at Work can be contacted on 020 7404 6609.

What is the role of Care Quality Commission?

As the industry regulator, it is key that the Care Quality Commission provides clear guidance to workers about how to express any concerns they may have.

Can whistleblowers be adversely affected?

I won’t pretend whistleblowers are never adversely affected as a result of their actions, but under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, those who suffer dismissal, victimisation or any other detriment can take a compensation claim to an employment tribunal.

Is the CQC a fault?

After the alleged abuse of people with learning disabilities at Winterbourne View private hospital, the CQC admitted there had been fault on its part in failing to follow up the concerns of a whistleblower. After reviewing its systems and processes, it set up a special team at its national customer service centre in Newcastle to ensure all whistleblowing concerns that come to the CQC are logged and the follow-up action is tracked until it reaches a conclusion.

Who can address complaints about health care safety?

Anyone from a city councilman to a U.S. representative can address complaints about health care safety. Professional nurses associations. Although the ANA can't intercede on an individual nurse's behalf, Grant says, it can advise nurses on possible options for recourse. Nursing union.

Why is it important to report a problem?

It's important to have a system in place and a collaborative process whereby concerns are addressed in a timely, patient-centered manner, Thomas says. "Reporting can help," she says. "Because, without identifying a problem or an issue, things continue to go on, day after day, the way they've been going – and that may not always be the best action or best course."

What are the problems with RNs?

Nurse practitioners and staff RNs report a variety of problems within health care facilities. Frequently reported issues include the following: 1 Inadequate staffing levels. 2 Lack of personal protective equipment and PPE violations. 3 Unsafe, unsanitary work environments. 4 Violence in areas such as emergency rooms and psychiatric units. 5 Colleagues whose unsafe practices endanger patients.

What is a charge nurse?

With each new shift, a charge nurse is assigned to manage oncoming nurses on a particular unit, often in addition to his or her own direct patient care responsibilities. Nurse manager.

How can the nurse's problem be addressed?

The nurse's problem can now be addressed through treatment and confidential monitoring programs – and patients are no longer endangered. "It's important to say that 99% of nurses are extremely safe and very competent practitioners," Alexander emphasizes.

Why are working conditions dangerous?

Working conditions can become hazardous, like a lack of protective personal equipment to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19. If serious concerns are not being addressed and hazardous work conditions continue, nurses need to make an official report.

How does reporting start?

Reporting usually starts internally, by following the facility's reporting procedures and going up the chain of command.

EHR Information Safety and Integration

Hygiene and Spread of Infections

Nurse Staffing Ratios and Burnout

• Plain and simple, the inability of most hospitals to maintain the right nurse-patient ratios leads to nurse burnout – with the lack of personnel to keep up with demand also leading to nursing shortagesacross the US. This snowballs into poor patient care, medical errors, and other safety concerns that could reduce recovery and survival rates, especi...

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• If you have any concerns about your safety or quality of care, please talk about them with your health care team. If you don’t understand the answers you receive, ask for more information. If your concerns cannot be resolved with your health care team, we encourage you to report your concerns to the management team at your medical center. Find cont...

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