5 Factors that can Improve Patient Safety

Patient safety is a key aspect of patient-centred care and is tied to the patient experience and health outcomes. However, many healthcare professionals view patient safety and patient-centred care as two different issues. Healthcare providers sometimes view patient safety as a part of their clinical care and do not incorporate safety into their patient experience initiatives.

It is necessary to look for patient satisfaction, properly engage patients, and listen to the patient’s needs as these are critical to supporting patient safety initiatives. Likewise, doctors must make sure that patients and their caregivers are knowledgeable about their care and can help prevent medical errors from falling through the cracks. Read below 5 factors that can significantly improve patient’s safety:

• Ensure that patients are knowledgeable about their treatment: By making sure that patients are informed about their care is also vital to preventing errors. This means a high-level understanding of the treatment and the risks they can face would go a long way rather than having complete knowledge just like a healthcare provider. Simply asking patients to recall and explain what they have been told is a strategy with enough evidence to support its regular use in patient safety initiatives. This way medical errorss can be prevented.
• Timely check of all the medical procedures: You all must have heard many horrifying stories from hospitals like the left arm surgery has been done in place of the right arm. Building regular verification of all the medical procedures into the hospital helps prevent errors like these. Other important tasks like keeping track of medication dosages and timings, ensuring that hygiene protocols have been followed while handling the patients are also important.
• Use of high-tech monitoring technology: Healthcare providers care for several patients during their shifts; each one with varying needs and medications all at the same time. The use of high-tech monitoring technology can help nurses and doctors verify that they are always following the right procedure while handing the right patient and that they are keeping on top of each patient’s needs. Bed alarms or monitoring cameras can help the hospital staff easily identify any mishap with the patients.
• Proper hygiene practices must be followed: Utmost care should be taken while handling patients. They have low immunity and as a result, are vulnerable to germs and infections. Hand washing is one of the best ways to stop the spread of germs in hospital environments. Alcohol-based sanitizer should be placed at every other corner of the hospitals to ensure the cleanliness and safety of the patients.
• Emphasize teamwork environment in the hospital: Patient safety is being taken care of by each and every member of the hospital. The entire staff members should be appreciated and respected for the work done by them as it provides encouragement and boost of confidence among them. There should be a teamwork culture in the hospital, necessary in preventing any errors while handling patients.

Over to you:
Simple actions can have a big impact on patient safety in hospitals. Now that you are well aware of all the factors that can improve patient safety, keep these in mind to provide the best possible care to the patients.