Healthcare Safety Toolkit Library

Violence in healthcare has escalated over the years and constitutes approximately 74% of workplace violence events reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is imperative that organizational leaders develop plans to prevent violence and train staff to identify and de-escalate violent behaviors as well as respond appropriately when an event occurs. This toolkit contains many resources to help facilitate the development of comprehensive violence prevention programs within your organization.

Maternal health encompasses the health of the pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period in women’s healthcare. Healthcare provider’s goals in maternal care are to reduce morbidity and mortality by providing safe, quality services to the mother and her baby. This objective can be accomplished by identifying risks, educating patients and following recommended guidelines of evidence-based practice. This toolkit supplies resources to benefit in the improvement of maternal health.

A guide for the environmental services staff to aid in training on proper cleaning through-out a healthcare facility.

A checklist for the environmental services staff to ensure proper terminal cleaning of rooms after patient discharge.

Utilize this tool when performing environment of care rounds, weekly or monthly assessments, tracers or in preparation for a regulatory survey to gain an overall picture of the condition of the environment. The environment of care assessment tool can be applied at the departmental level in any healthcare organization.

This resource provides updated Life Safety Codes for the environment of care and life safety elements for the Hospital Accreditation Program, the Ambulatory Healthcare Accreditation Program and the Critical Access Hospital Accreditation Program.

A publication from American Nurse Today in 2015 presents a successful program from the Patient Safety Center at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, FL. The article reviews problems identified, patient fall risk assessment, fall risk precautions, creating a culture that facilitates fall prevention and a roadmap that outlines an effective fall prevention program.

A quick 2-page guide focusing on how to prevent patient falls in ambulatory surgery. This resource is short, to-the-point and would be excellent as a staff education tool.

Although it is healthcare's goal to maintain a safe environment at all times, violence remains a significant concern today. It is vital to implement processes to prevent workplace violence. Security practices can include an array of methods. The following documents provide best practices and alternative approaches that may be applied when handling violent encounters.

Reducing the risk of encountering an active shooter situation is important to any business, especially healthcare. These resources provide tools on how to plan what to do in the event of an active shooter/violent situation.

Acitve shooter events are increasing more and more across the U.S. and the experts have developed tools to help the lay person identify a potential active shooter as a risk reduction strategy.

Healthcare organizations should take the possiblity of an active shooter event occuring in their facility very seriously. These resources provide key tactics on managing violent and disruptive behavior as a risk reduction process.

Active shooter training is vital for all staff in a healthcare organization as they are the eyes and ears of the facility. These resources help ensure staff are trained and prepared to address violent/aggressive behavior/situations.