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Medicine
Date
Nov 24, 2024
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docx
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The findings show the frequency of patient safety incidences during a month-long study on two
medical units in a major urban teaching hospital. The safety issues included patient falls, CAUTI
complications, medical errors, and Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). The
findings show that 38 percent of patients reported to have fallen, which is a significant number.
The data shows that over a third of all patients are at risk of minor bruises, head injuries, and
fractures due to patient falls. Patient fall is a major health issue that undermines patient
outcomes, increases the cost of care, and lowers patient satisfaction. The hospital should initiate
different interventions such as activating bed alarms, educating patients on the need to ask for
assistance, and installing reminders in the patient wards. Another significant finding is that 24
percent of patients reported CAUTIs. One of the common causes of CAUTIs is the prolonged
use of catheters. The hospital should execute interventions such as reducing the time of using
catheters to the shortest possible.
The number of patients at risk of medical is 30 percent of all patients. The number is high and it
shows lack of proper standards of attending to patient needs. A project by Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ) finds that median error rates range from 8%–25% (MacDowell et
al., 2021). The hospital should undertake investigations to determine causes of the high error
rates. The hospital is also receiving at least 14 percent of patients with methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) infections. The antibiotic resistance infection can be spread to
other people thus putting other patients at risk of infection. It is important to isolate such patients
and treat them with Vancomycin to ensure quality patient outcomes (Mahjabeen et al., 2022). It
is vital to launch prevention measures such as promoting hand and hygiene and cleaning hospital
rooms. The hospital should conduct rapid screening of all patients to detect MRSA upon
admission.
What additional information would you need to help develop a plan to decrease the
occurrence of these events?
Additional information is needed to decrease the occurrence of the events that undermine patient
safety. The first piece of additional information is the ratio of staff to patients to determine if it is
the cause of the high patient falls. It is also important to find out if the patients who fall have
specific co-occurring conditions such as depression, impaired cognition, impaired balance and
dizziness. The information will help determine the appropriate interventions to lower patient
falls. Additionally, the rate of CAUTIs is high thus the need for additional information such as
the duration of using catheters. It is vital to find out if the catheters have been used for prolonged
period. Use of catheter for prolonged period is the major cause of CAUTIs (Kranz et al., 2020).
It is also vital to find out if the healthcare providers and patients observe prevention measures
such as handwashing and keeping the drain tubes clean. The issue of medication errors requires
further investigation thus the need for additional information. One of the human factors relating
to medication errors is stress and fatigue (Jones et al., 2021). It is vital to find out if the
healthcare providers are overwhelmed by work due to poor staff-to-patient ratio or long shifts.
The additional information should confirm whether the medication errors occur due to incorrect
diagnosis, poor communication or handover. Additional information also needs to confirm if the
medication errors occur due to wrong administration, over or under dose. The extra information
is vital in developing quality strategies for addressing the problems and reducing the occurrence
of the incidents.
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