Photo By Douglas Stutz | It's a wash - Hand Hygiene is mapped out for Naval Hospital Bremerton staff and...... read more read more
BREMERTON, Wash. - Over the years, Naval Hospital Bremerton (NHB) staff have had to navigate rough shoals and choppy waters, team up for a Jeopardy challenge, and even go medieval to help showcase National Patient Safety Week, March 8-14, 2015.
This year is no different, as NHB staff, along with beneficiaries and visitors were introduced to this year’s National Patient Safety Week theme of “United in Safety.” The annual educational event coordinated by Quality Management department focuses on enhancing, improving and increasing awareness on a wide range of patient-related safety topics.
“As members of the National Patient Safety Foundation, we try to take their theme and as usual, create our own take. Our quarterdeck display will highlight each patient safety goal and have educational material for both staff and patient's including fun facts that are set in locations around the globe. China, England, Egypt, and of course the USA will be represented. They will be tied together with a red plane - think Indiana Jones flying all over – and have also included information on staying healthy while traveling, including how to avoid jet lag and deep vein thrombosis [DVT],” said Mayda Schaefer, patient safety analyst with Quality Management department.
“Patient safety is the bedrock of our patient care. We have always been good and we can always be better. All this week and the extra attention allow us to do just that,” said Capt. Christopher Quarles, NHB commanding officer.
According to Lt. Cmdr. Susan Toyama, Quality Management department head, Patient Safety Awareness Week has been in existence since 2002 and is an annual NPSF-led education and awareness campaign for healthcare safety.
National Patient Safety Week has always provided a great opportunity for command leadership, staff members and patients to interact, focus and address key safety points in a unique and inviting manner.
“What is gratifying about National Patient Safety Week is talking to the patients and staff who stop to read and look at the display,” Toyama said.
There’s been a Circus theme, Motion Picture Oscars Award theme, Olympics theme, Wild West theme, and a “Seek and Find.” The medieval idea? It featured an elaborate mock castle exhibit, with ramparts festooned with National Patient Safety Goals exhibited in a Middle Ages motif.
During that time – roughly from the fifth century through the 15th - people died from the treatment, not just the ailment. The "Moat of Complacency" was a gentle reminder to refrain from taking everyday occurrences concerning patient safety for granted. One wrong step and it was sink or swim for both patient and provider.
This year’s theme also offers reminders on complacency, as well as focused awareness on several topics, such as wrong site surgery, which is when an operation is done on a wrong part of the body or even on the wrong person. It can also refer a wrong surgery being performed. Wrong-site surgery is rare and preventable, but it can still happen. There is Universal Protocol with important prevention steps such as conducting a preprocedure verification process; marking the procedure site; and conducting a time-out before the procedure is performed, all steps for preventing wrong site, wrong procedure and wrong person surgery as part of National Patient Safety Goals.
There are medication mistakes that happen when a patient receives the wrong medication, or when they receive the right medication but in the wrong dose or manner. Unfortunately, medication errors are extremely common. Medication errors harm an estimated 1.5 million Americans each year, resulting in upward of $3.5 billion in extra medical costs. Medication Safety is continually stressed at NHB by using the five "Rs" – Right patient, Right drug, Right Dose, Right time, and Right route. There are many safety checkpoints in the hospital, but staff members need to ensure that a patient always knows what they are taking and why.
Another Patient Safety goal is awareness of a health care-acquired infection (HAI), which is an infection that a person can get while being treated for a medical condition. This can occur in the hospital or even in the home. An infection is considered to be health care-acquired when it occurs after treatment begins. In the United States, one out of 20 hospitalized patients contracted an HAI. The three most common HAI types are: 1) catheter-related bloodstream infections; 2) hospital-acquired pneumonia; and 3) surgical site infections.
The requirements for handling such goals as previously listed are decided upon from a “pool” of recommendations from Patient Safety Awareness Week. Each year, the previous goals are evaluated by a panel of widely recognized patient safety experts, called the Sentinel Event Advisory Group. New recommendations are made and the goals are updated or change.
Other goals are; improving the accuracy of patient identification; improving the effectiveness of communication among caregivers; and improving the safety of using medications.
NHB’s localize touch on safety branched out from the hospital setting into the global realm. With travel a part of serving in the Navy, a perfect way to tie in the “United in Safety” aspect was to shed some awareness on several health issues that could crop up for anyone taking a trip.
Crossing time zones can disrupt a person’s daily body rhythm and lead to fatigue, clumsiness, loss of appetite, memory loss, digestive problems and flu-like symptoms. Not everyone gets jet lag, yet people with strict daily routines tend to be impacted worst. The problem is usually worse when traveling east to west, because the body can cope better with a longer day than a shorter one. Recovery takes about a day for every time zone crossed.
There were suggested tips to help beat jet lag, such as to get plenty of sleep in the days before you travel; start adjusting to the time at your destination as soon as you get on the place – rest your watch, modify mealtimes and get some sleep, especially if arriving in daylight; take light exercise during the flight; don’t overeat and avoid alcohol; when you arrive, get into a routine immediately; drink plenty of water and exercise daily; don’t nap during the day; and adjust to local time.
Some important tips to staying healthy on a flight include: sanitize everything, starting with your hands. Bring a sanitizing gel and always use before eating or drinking, always use after your wash hands in the airplane’s bathroom, and even put some on a tissue and wipe down your tray. Evidenced based reports have shown that water on planes can have a dirty track record. It is recommended to brush teeth with bottled water. To help prevent catching a pathogen in the plane’s recycled air, blow away the airborne microbes by using the vent above. Set it at low or medium and position it so the current is directed towards your lap. If there is something infectious floating into personal space, the vent air will create enough current to blow it away.
DVT is a blood clot in a vein, usually in the legs. The condition is considered serious because blood clots can loosen and lodge in the lungs. Leg pain or swelling may occur, but there may be no symptoms. The following recommendations can help reduce the risk of travel-related DVT:
Foot pumps: Place feet flat on the floor, then raise toes toward you and hold for a few seconds. Lower toes and balls of feet to the floor, then raise heels and hold for a few seconds.
Ankle circles: Raise both feet off the floor and trace a circle or try the entire alphabet to keep occupied.
Leg raises: If there is enough room, raise left foot off floor. Straighten leg slowly, then return foot back to floor. Repeat with right leg. Then alternately, slowly lift left knee to chest, then slowly place foot back down and repeat with right.
Any Patient Safety kickoff event wouldn’t be complete without handy tips from Infection Control. A strategically placed world map showed that currently there are 48 countries (depending on the source there are a total of 189 to 196 countries today) with coordinated activities to promote hand hygiene in health care either as specific activities or as part of infection prevention and control activities or patient safety initiatives. Hand hygiene is considered the most important measure to avoid the transmission of harmful germs and prevent healthcare-associated infections. Hands are the main pathway of germ transmissions during health care.
The week also included a hosted poster demonstration/competition from various directorates, departments and clinics that highlight their safety projects, along with recognizing several staff members by the Patient Safety Recognition Program for their contributions and recommendations in "speaking up for patient safety" and helping to make a positive difference.
The recognition program was developed and initiated in Feb. 2014 as an inclusive way to get every staff member involved in patient safety by being able to share their thoughts and ideas to make a procedure, a process, a plan, as safe as possible. Several individuals and small groups have receiving accolades for speaking up, documenting near misses and taking part as being delegates for Patient Safety.
“We’ve had on-the-spot nominations, random drawings for a contributor, and presented winners with certificates, a command coin, and even a parking spot. It’s been a great way to get people involved,” said Toyama.
One of the quirky fun facts added was the note that the Committee Hoping for Extra-Terrestrial Encounters to Save the Earth (CHEESE) claims to have plans from the 1962 World’s Fair that show the (Seattle) Space Needle was constructed to send transmissions to advanced beings in other solar systems. There’s also 25 lighting rods (24 actual rods plus the tower) on the roof of the Needle to withstand lighting strikes.
Needless to say, Quality Management staff members are not advocating anyone climbing on top to count them. It’s just not safe in any type of weather, regardless of the week.
| Date Taken: | 03.09.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2015 17:03 |
| Story ID: | 156562 |
| Location: | BREMERTON, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 109 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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