Creating A Culture of Patient Safety at Marlboro Park Hospital

Here at Marlboro Park Hospital (MPH), patient safety is our top priority. Medical errors results in as many as 98,000 American deaths each year, according to the national Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine. At MPH we have created a multidisciplinary approach to help safeguard and prevent medical errors and improve patient safety. We have developed a system designed to provide the safest and best possible care for every patient every time.

The following are some of the tools used at MPH to create an environment conducive to patient safety:

• Time Out: Prior to any invasive procedure, we perform what is called a time out. This involves multiple staff members including the physician. We use tow identifiers to identify the patient prior to an invasive procedure to prevent errors related to wrong identification. A detailed check list is used prior to an invasive procedure to ensure nothing has been overlooked. It also involves the patient, parent and/or guardian.
• Twenty Four Hour Chart Check: We use a multidisciplinary approach to verify all physician orders. The orders may be taken off by a unit secretary, always noted by a nurse or supervisor at the time the order was written and then reverfied every twenty four hours. This chart check is to ensure that all orders have been carried out as ordered by the physician.
• Critical Values Result Report: Critical values result is a form of communication designed to improve timely reporting of critical test and reports. A time frame is used in which reporting should occur. The physician must be notified within sixty minutes of receiving the critical value. Report of critical values in a timely manner prevents delay in treatment.
• Medication Reconciliation: This is a form used to accurately and completely reconcile medication across the continuum of care by providing current and newly ordered medication, communicating medications to the next provider and providing a reconcile medication list to the patient.
• Read Back Verbal Orders: When an order is given verbally or over the phone, it is required that the order be written down and then read back to the person giving the order. This safety tool is invaluable to safeguard against miscommunication. Once the order has been written in the chart, it is stamped in red and signed off by the physician within a designated period of time.

At MPH, we have created a culture of safety to decrease medical errors and improve patient safety. We have developed a team designed to achieve just that. Our surveillance team includes Infection Control, Case Management, Pharmacy, Risk Management and Quality Control to name a few. This article mentions only a fraction of the standards we have created at MPH to establish a culture conducive to patient safety, quality and effectiveness. Our mission is to provide excellent comprehensive healthcare services in a safe environment of care.

Mae Ross, RN BSN
Nursing Services Supervisor