For years, the Medical Staff standard MS.01.01.01 has been a battleground for hospitals—an ongoing issue of bylaws versus rules and regulations and the right way for organized medical staffs, medical executive committees (MEC), and governing boards to interact.
By nature, I am an outgoing person. In fact, I’ve maxed out the sociability and extrovert scale of any leadership proficiency or personality test I have ever taken. I love humor and fun, and I am an energetic individual. When I reflect on how I’ve ended up in the field of patient safety—a...
Engaged nurses who feel like they work in an organization that values their efforts and opinions have an incredibly positive effect on the quality of care patients receive. Studies have shown that organizational support for nursing leads to better quality of care, which can reduce mortality...
True or false: It is important for patients and families to understand the individual patients’ risks for falls, and the specific measures that are being used to prevent them from falling.
Next time your nursing staff members complain about having too much paperwork and not enough time at the patient’s bedside, you can tell them their feelings are echoed by nurses nationwide, as shown by a recent survey.
The Joint Commission has released its list of the most cited standards for 2009. Unsurprisingly, the list contains many Life Safety Code and Environment of Care standards, primarily regarding fire safety, which have been prominent in previous lists of top-cited standards by the accrediting body...
True or false: Staff members must receive training on the use and management of restraint and seclusion, and their competency to perform must be assessed annually.
The Joint Commission has updated its sentinel events statistics, according to an official statement on the accrediting organization’s Web site. The updates can be viewed here.
True or false: Hospitals not only need to monitor time frames for reporting critical test results and values, they must also monitor the timeliness of reporting routine test results and values.
