Patient safety in hospitals has several benefits such as the prevention of infections. Primarily, it is the absence of preventable harm to a patient during the process of healthcare. Patient safety initiatives are the efforts of healthcare facilities to revise medical procedures and train staff to work as a team to minimize errors and protect patients. A large number of patients die every year from preventable errors in hospitals. Therefore, hospitals have to ensure that patient safety is the priority. Additionally, they should minimize patient safety incidents and drive improvements in safety and quality. They should treat patients in a safe environment and protect them from avoidable harm.
MEASURES TO IMPROVE PATIENT SAFETY IN HOSPITALS
Reducing readmissions is one measure that promotes patient safety in hospitals. Healthcare facilities can achieve this through targeting at-risk patient populations, joining readmission-prevention collaborative, providing clear discharge instructions, and ensuring adequate staffing of nurses during in-patient care. Additionally, hospitals need to ensure a safe environment for the treatment of patients. Resultantly, this helps in the prevention of infections in hospitals. They should also create policies that contain surveillance strategies, the use of hand hygiene, and standard precautions.
THE STEPS FOR PREVENTION OF INFECTIONS IN HOSPITALS
Primarily, in the prevention of infections, hospitals should ensure the maintenance of hand hygiene. Both patients and staff members should wash their hands with soap and water to create a safe environment. Also, the hospitals need to create infection-control policies with information on the isolation of patients to prevent contact with other patients. Additionally, it is important to disinfect and keep surfaces clean to promote patient safety in hospitals. This helps to prevent the accidental transmission of infections to new patients. The healthcare facilities also need to change patient linens daily and when dirty.
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