PATIENT SAFETY UPDATE
Five national organizations propose model characteristics
Members representing the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American Nurses Association, American Organization of Nurse Executives, and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists met to investigate how nurses and pharmacists can collaborate to improve patient safety.
Participants proposed methods to improve medication use in hospitals, with a focus on ensuring therapy effectiveness and patient safety and creating a collective vision of ideal medication distribution and administration in hospitals, including the most efficient use of nursing and pharmacy workforces.
Attendees designated the salient points of a medication-use model in an ideal patient care system as:
[white diamond suit] patient-centered
[white diamond suit] team-based
[white diamond suit] risk conscious with continued systems-based improvement
[white diamond suit] highly reliable.
The organizations are contemplating additional sessions that would include members of the greater health care community. Members may obtain the full text of the executive session summary at: http://www.ashp.org.
AHRQ NEWS
Resource aims to reduce medication errors
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, in collaboration with the National Council on Patient Information and Education, released a new brochure entitled "Your Medicine: Play It Safe." Available in English and Spanish, the guide aims to promote safe use of prescription medications by patients. It outlines four ways to increase safety, in which consumers are urged to:
[white diamond suit] inform their health care team of currently taken prescription and over-the-counter medications, vitamins, herbs, and dietary supplements
[white diamond suit] get the facts about their medications by asking questions and reading the prescription
[white diamond suit] stay with the treatment plan for the duration of the medication
[white diamond suit] keep a record of their medications.
To download a printable version, visit http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/safemeds/safemeds.pdf or http://www.talkaboutrx.org.