New Patient Safety Checklists introduced to reduce fatal medical errors

Surgical safety checklists have been shown to be very effective in significantly reducing fatal medical errors when used by surgeons and members of the surgical team. (See Harvard study.) Martine Ehrenclou, author of the multiple award winning book, Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide To Get Your Loved One Out Alive, has created "The Patient Safety Checklist" for patients and their advocates to further close the gap on preventing medical errors in hospitals.

“With the pressure physicians and nurses are currently under, patients and their family members must get involved in the hospitalized patient's medical care.”

Ehrenclou created "The Patient Safety Checklist" for hospitalized patients and their family members to work together with the medical professionals in increasing the likelihood that a hospitalized patient will not fall victim to deadly medical errors. "A collaborative effort is needed," states Ehrenclou. "With the pressure physicians and nurses are currently under, patients and their family members must get involved in the hospitalized patient's medical care."

Critical Conditions supports all medical professionals and focuses on showing readers how to respectfully work in partnership with the hospital medical staff to maximize patient care and prevent medical errors, infectious diseases, falls and more.

The Patient Safety Checklist

1. If you are a patient in the hospital, enlist a family member or good friend to act as your advocate to oversee and monitor your care. He or she can implement these strategies if you are unable.
2. Keep a notebook and write everything down. Use the patient safety checklist and verbally repeat the items with each new medical professional who administers medical treatment. This checklist includes your name and birth date, diagnosis, current list of medications and their dosages, and allergies to medications.
3. If medications are to be administered, go over your list of medications and dosages and allergies to medications with the medical professionals. If you don't recognize a medication or something seems unusual or out of the ordinary, speak up in a respectful manner. Ask questions.
4. If you are to have surgery in the hospital, ask your family member acting as your advocate to accompany you to the operating room. He or she will not be allowed in but ask to see the surgeon or other members of the surgical team. Go over your checklist: patient's name and birth date, name of surgery, and the correct site on the body which is to be operated on. You can mark this yourself with a permanent marker or ask the surgeon to do it.
5. To prevent the spread of hospital infections, ask everyone who comes in contact with you to wash their hands. In a respectful manner, ask all physicians and nurses to wash their hands and put on disposable gloves before touching you.
6. If you are at risk for falling out of bed due to sedation, recovery from surgery or confusion, ask a loved one to be at your bedside at all times to help you. Patients often try to get out of bed to go to the bathroom and fall, causing serious injuries. You can hire a nurse or sitter to fill in for family.
7. If you are immobile in your hospital bed, your body needs to be turned regularly to prevent bed sores. Ask your advocate to work with your primary nurse to make sure that your body is turned the appropriate number of times in a day.
8. If you are unclear about any aspect of your medical care or treatment, ask questions. Physicians and nurses are dealing with patient overload and are all doing the best they can. You can partner effectively with them to keep yourself safe in the hospital.