Today I Learned...
Today I learned about the
National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs). The NPSGs were established in 2003 to
reduce the risk of preventable accidents from occurring. The Joint Commission,
which is made up of several different medical individuals who oversee these
goals. Their goal is to promote specific improvements in patient safety. The
data that is considered when creating these goals is based upon data from the
Sentinel Event Database. This group reviews issues identified by the sentinel
event and other data. NPSGs only apply to those who provide care specific
to each goal. Each NPSG contains three parts: the goal number and
statement of the goal, the reason or reasons that the goal was created, and the
elements of performance to make sure the goal is being put into place correctly.
The first goal involves correct
patient identification. It require that a medical professional must use two
patient identifiers. The second goal is staff communication improvement and
says that it is important to get lab results to the right people in a timely
manner. NPSG number three is in relation to using medicines safely. It is
imperative to label any medicines that are not labeled before starting a
procedure. Also important is keeping accurate patient records. The next goal is
to use alarms safely. This includes making sure alarms can be heard
easily and responded to in a timely manner. Identifying patient risks and
noting any behaviors that might cause harm to a patient is the next NPSG. The
last goal is preventing mistakes in surgery. This means confirming that the
correct surgery is being performed on the correct patient on the correct part
of their body.
