2006 Patient Safety Goals
The following goals and requirements were developed for home health care but may not apply to all areas of home health, says Maryanne L. Popovich, RN, MPH, executive director of the Joint Commission’s Home Care Accreditation Program. To access an applicability grid that defines which 2005 goals apply to your agency, durable medical equipment division, or infusion service, go to: www.jcaho.org, choose "home care" under "accredited organizations," then click on 2005 National Patient Safety Goals. The new goals or requirements for 2006 are italicized:
Improve the accuracy of patient identification.
- Use at least two patient identifiers whenever administering medications or blood products, taking blood samples and other specimens for clinical testing, or providing any other treatments or procedures.
- Prior to the start of any invasive procedure, conduct a final verification process, such as a timeout, to confirm the correct patient, procedure, and site using active — not passive — communication techniques.
Improve the effectiveness of communication among caregivers.
• For verbal or telephone orders or for telephonic reporting of critical test results, verify the complete order or test result by having the person receiving the order or test result read back the complete order or test result.
- Standardize a list of abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols that are not to be used throughout the organization.
- Measure, assess, and if appropriate, take action to improve the timeliness of reporting and the timeliness of receipt by the responsible licensed caregiver of critical test results and values.
- Implement a standardized approach to hand off communications, including an opportunity to ask and respond to questions.
Improve the safety of using medications. - Standardize and limit the number of drug concentrations used by the organization.
Identify and, at a minimum, annually review a list of look-alike/sound-alike drugs used by the organization, and take action to prevent errors involving the interchange of these drugs.
Reduce the risk of health care-associated infections.
- Comply with current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hand hygiene guidelines.
- Manage as sentinel events all identified cases of unanticipated death or major permanent loss of function associated with a health care-associated infection.
Accurately and completely reconcile medications across the continuum of care.
- Implement a process for obtaining and documenting a complete list of the patient’s current medications upon the patient’s entry to the organization and with the involvement of the patient.
- A complete list of the patient’s medications is communicated to the next provider of service when a patient is referred or transferred to another setting, service, practitioner, or level of care within or outside the organization.
Reduce the risk of patient harm resulting from falls.
- Implement a fall reduction program and evaluate the effectiveness of the program.
Encourage the active involvement of patients and their families in the patient’s care as a patient safety strategy.
- Define and communicate the means for patients and their families to report concerns about safety and encourage them to do so.
Source: Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Oakbrook Terrace, IL.
CE objectives
After reading each issue of Hospital Home Health, the reader will be able to do the following:
- Identify particular clinical, ethical, legal, or social issues pertinent to home health care.
- Describe how those issues affect nurses, patients, and the home care industry in general.
- Describe practical solutions to the problems that the profession encounters in home care and integrate them into daily practices.
CE instructions
Nurses participate in this continuing education program by reading the issue, using the provided references for further research, and studying the questions at the end of the issue. Participants should select what they believe to be the correct answers, then refer to the list of correct answers to test their knowledge. To clarify confusion surrounding any questions answered incorrectly, please consult the source material. After completing this semester's activity with the September issue, you must complete the evaluation form provided in that issue and return it in the reply envelope provided to receive a certificate of completion.
The following goals and requirements were developed for home health care but may not apply to all areas of home health, says Maryanne L. Popovich, RN, MPH, executive director of the Joint Commissions Home Care Accreditation Program.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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