Just thought I’d get the word out about National Patient Safety Awareness Week, sponsored by the National Patient Saftey Foundation. This year’s theme is “Are you in? Committ to Safer Health Care.”
If you can’t see the video above, visit this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDNtdLSK8Og
Patients are often harmed through the medical care they receive, and a lot of that harm is preventable. 85% of Americans know someone who has been a victim of medical error. We need to eliminate the attitude that shrugs off errors, saying, “these things happen.” The fact is if we were more responsible, they wouldn’t. There are tons of reasons why errors occur, and it is not a problem that can be solved easily. It requires a massive amount of coordination across different boundaries of healthcare delivery.
There are organizations other than the NPSF working toward patient safety goals. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement has taken some initiatives to improve patient safety that you can learn about here. Also available is the transcript of a Q&A with Patricia Sokol, RN, MD, the Senior Policy Analyst for the American Medical Association’s Institute for ethics.
Accountable Healthcare 
March 9, 2011 at 9:30 am |
this blog is looking nice brett. I liked the video.. I think that patient safety week is something I dont even remember exists, so I think it’s cool you put it on your blog. It has helped me to be more aware.
March 9, 2011 at 4:13 pm |
I have experienced this myself. I don’t think people are aware as they should be with medical errors. I was almost killed by a medical mistake, or rather, a medical omission, just getting looked over as no big deal. I like the idea of an awareness week. Thanks for this update.
March 14, 2011 at 12:07 am |
Well its a good thing I read about patient awareness week on your blog..I’ve never seen anything on it else where. Thanks,
By the way your blog is incredibly professional looking, great job
March 20, 2011 at 4:07 pm |
Thats interesting about having a National Patient Safety Awareness Week. Its very true that they need to be more responsible, because i am one of the 85% that has known someone that has had a medical error and it really made the turn for the worst.
April 3, 2011 at 12:47 pm |
That is one of the more difficult things that Hospitals face when they are trying to reduce costs by increasing patient to staff ratios but at what risk? Patient safety!