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.

This worksheet is a component of the Guide to Developing and Managing Overdose Prevention and Take-Home Naloxone Projects, produced by Harm Reduction Coalition. In this resource, you will find helpful overdose prevention tips and insights into the common risks for opioid overdose events. Remember: Not every prevention method is applicable or pragmatic for every situation. The advice in this worksheet is meant to be used as a guideline to customize prevention methods specific to your needs.

Johns-Hopkins Hospital describes their organization's successful continuous patient monitoring project. The organization’s philosophy was that no patient should suffer a failure-to-rescue event and they set out to implement processes to achieve that goal. This article describes how they used technology to improve patient outcomes and failure-to-rescue events related to over-sedation.

Resources are provided to assist healthcare practitioners, families and patients understand the potential misuses of opioids and techniques to limit misuse.

These are the recommended practices from the CDC for prescribing opioids for the treatment of chronic pain in the clinical setting. These recommendations are not intended for the use of opioids in treating active cancer, palliative care or end-o- life care.

By following these recommendations, you and your healthcare team may reduce risks associated with long-term opioid therapy.

Healthcare facilities can use this assessment for practitioners who prescribe, dispense and/or administer opioid products. The assessment tool addresses selection, dosing and patient monitoring when using opioid products. This tool was developed by the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Medical Society.

Aggregating and analyzing the results of practitioner assessments can help healthcare facilities identify opportunities for improvement and aid in the development of targeted, high-leverage strategies to improve the safe use of opioids.

This is a sample policy that provides guidelines for the appropriate actions needed when a patient, suspected of abusing drugs, requests a prescription for a controlled substance from an emergency practitioner. This resource aims to provide practitioners with an outlined method for handling prescribing concerns related to individuals who chronically use opioids.

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.