The primary purpose of care providers in the medical field is improving and saving lives. This puts an emphasis on the patient and the safety demands. Learn more about common patient safety concerns in medicine and how care providers respond to them.
Medication Administration Errors
The administration of medications is an integral part of patient safety, but without proper education and equipment, care providers can easily administer an incorrect dose or medication. Because of this, care providers need to follow strict guidelines for administration.
They also need to adhere to device-specific protocols and maintenance for tools that administer vital pharmaceuticals. Devices such as IV administration sets, needles, or patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps all play middleman in medication delivery and must be properly maintained. For example, the PCA pumps require preventative maintenance to avoid putting the patient in grave danger.
Discharging Dilemmas
The discharge portion of a patient’s care routine can be cause for great safety concerns for medical organizations. On the one hand, they want the patient to feel comfortable returning home and caring for themselves or trusting someone else. But on the other hand, providing too much information in one sitting can overwhelm the patient and counteract the process’s intentions.
Creating a standardized discharge process with streamlined measures can enable providers to relay the appropriate amount of information and paperwork to a patient. Additionally, this can ensure their safety once they leave the medical facility and help them make appropriate accommodations for their in-home care needs.
Mismanagement of Data
Mismanaging data can also impact a patient’s safety. The data storage system is expansive and aids in providing healthcare facilities with a comprehensive insight into patient health management.
Things such as schedulers, medication requirements, and analytical data must be correct and organized to ensure the patient receives proper, effective care. If care providers mismanage patient data, the patient is put at risk. To prevent this, medical institutions rely on pristine organization and cross-referencing systems to ensure patient data is correct and secure.
The healthcare industry has always faced challenging situations due to the risky, sensitive nature of its work. Because of the risk involved, patient safety is a top priority. Healthcare providers understand common patient safety concerns in medicine and train to limit them in every way possible.
