Healthcare Safety Toolkit Library

From the Joint Commission Perspectives Newsletter comes the announcement of new and revised pain assessment and management standards that will go into effect January 1, 2018. Developed through rigorous research, evaluation and review processes, these enhancements will facilitate safer opioid prescribing and management practices for healthcare providers.

The proactive assessment of safety practices, especially those involving opioid use, can provide hospitals with valuable information about the weaknesses that exist within their medication-use system. Because the harm from errors involving opioids is potentially devastating, identifying the risks associated with opioid use should be considered a priority by healthcare organizations.

This assessment tool will help you analyze the safety of opioid practices in your facility and identify those key opportunities for improvement.

In this resource, you will find two sample patient agreement forms that can be used with patients who are beginning long-term treatment with opioid analgesics or other controlled substances. These documents contain statements to help ensure patients understand their role and responsibilities regarding their treatment, the conditions under which their treatment may be terminated, and the responsibilities of the healthcare provider. These documents can help facilitate communication between patients and healthcare providers and resolve any questions or concerns before initiation of long-term treatment with a controlled substance.

These guidelines were developed by the San Diego Patient Safety Task Force to provide acute care clinical leaders with recommendations for the standardization of intravenous Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) medication administration in the care of the opioid naïve patient.

The PCA is an interactive method of pain management that allows patients to manage their pain by self-administering doses of analgesics, which usually involves opioids.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center describes their journey from FMEA through performance improvement in reduction of adverse events related to over-sedation from opioid administration. This article offers best practices, challenges faced, solutions identified and the outcomes achieved through an interdisciplinary project which led to positive patient outcomes.

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.

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.

Prioritizing our Healthcare Workers: The importance of Addressing the Intersection of Workplace Violence and Mental Health and Wellbeing

It is essential to understand a security program. These resources help build and sustain a security program in healthcare. Sources delve further into risk considerations of law enforcement's presence in the emergency room and guidance to infant abductions.

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.