|
Back to "In the News"
EDITORIAL: Hospitals band together for safety
BY TIME STAFF
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Patient safety in
Lake and Porter
counties is getting
a boost from the
creation of a new
group aiming to
standardize
practices.
The
Northwest Indiana
Patient Safety
Coalition has been
formed by the
Community Healthcare
System, The
Methodist Hospitals,
Porter Health and
the Sisters of St.
Francis Health
Services Inc. It is
modeled after
similar programs in
Indianapolis, Fort
Wayne and South
Bend.
These
partnerships for
patient care are the
wave of the future,
and that's as it
should be.
The participating
hospitals "put aside
our competitive
juices in the name
of quality patient
care," said Tom
Gryzbek, president
of St. Margaret
Mercy Hospitals in
Hammond and Dyer.
Gryzbek is head of
the IHA's
Northwestern
District.
One of the
projects the Indiana
Hospital Association
and the patient
safety coalitions
are working on is
the result of a
presentation by a
group of
undergraduate
nursing students at
Purdue University
Calumet. Those four
students -- now new
graduates --
analyzed how the
existing color-coded
system of wristbands
could be adapted to
reduce patient care
errors.
"A purple
wristband at one
hospital may mean
DNR (Do Not
Resuscitate), while
in another hospital
the purple wristband
could mean 'don't
use this
extremity,'" said
Rhonda McKay, vice
president for
patient care and
chief nursing
officer with
Community Healthcare
Systems.
The new coalition
is working on
standardization
efforts that
include:
* Surgical
instruments and
sponge-count
policies.
* Precautions to
guard against
infections.
* Patient
education campaign
focused on
medication lists.
* Emergency
codes.
* Guidelines for
care while patients
are in emergency
rooms waiting for
bed placement.
Standardization
can make it easier
to nurses and others
to quickly get up to
speed when they
transfer between
hospitals. This
coalition's work
could save patients'
lives.
The formation of
the Northwest
Indiana Patient
Safety Coalition is
a major advance in
health care.
Back to "In the News"s""
|
