Nurses: Standardize Patient Education with These Postpartum Warning Signs
July 9, 2019
[9 MIN READ] Standardization is known for reducing variation and increasing consistency; it continues to be a recognized safeguard to decreasing liability and improving outcomes. High-quality postpartum care includes implementation of both standardized discharge processes and teaching that can improve maternal outcomes. AWHONN promotes postpartum discharge standardization and encourages that specific components of postpartum discharge…Read More
Framework for an Obstetrics Training Program
July 2, 2019
[2 MIN READ] Designing a continuing education program for your obstetrics department can be a challenging task. You want to balance the needs of all clinicians on your unit, address areas of concern, and keep pace with the ever-changing landscape of evidence-based practice and emerging national guidelines and trends. TSG’s RSQ® Solutions – Obstetrics Education…Read More
Medication Error Case: Opioid Adverse Drug Event in the Hospital
June 18, 2019
[6 MIN READ] An adverse drug event (ADE) is defined as harm experienced by a patient resulting from exposure to a medication. An ADE can be caused by an error or poor care, but it is estimated that about half of ADEs are caused by a medication error; these are known as preventable adverse drug…Read More
Framework for an Emergency Medicine Training Program
June 13, 2019
As you start an emergency medicine training program, it can be overwhelming deciding where to start with your coursework. We have found that six to ten courses each year is a nice number. If you know specific areas in which your organization struggles, we certainly recommend starting there. Does your organization struggle with improving patient satisfaction scores?…Read More
EMTALA On-call Physicians
June 3, 2019
[5 MIN READ] In prior blogs, I reviewed the bare-bones of EMTALA, highlighted recent studies of EMTALA investigations, and summarized recently settled cases of EMTALA violations. In this installment, I outline the requirements of EMTALA as they relate to the role of the on-call physician. EMTALA was passed to prevent the dumping of “non-paying” patients…Read More
Apologies and Medical Error: Do Apology Laws Create More Medical Malpractice Lawsuits?
May 28, 2019
[3 MIN READ] In April, a handful of media outlets reported on a Stanford Law Review article that was published in February 2019 claiming that so-called state apology laws may actually increase medical malpractice lawsuits for non-surgeons. The title of the study is “‘Sorry’ Is Never Enough: How State Apology Laws Fail to Reduce Medical Malpractice…Read More
Discharge Instructions for Patients: Best Practices
May 20, 2019
[9 MIN READ] Hospital discharge is cited as a vulnerable point in a patient’s care transition. Its effective execution has significant implications on a patient’s recovery trajectory. The most effective tool in a clinician’s toolbox to promote patient healing is the effective delivery of communicating discharge instructions for patients. Source: Hubspot
Measles Outbreak: ACOG Practice Advisory
May 14, 2019
ACOG has issued a practice advisory regarding the recent measles outbreak. Source: Hubspot
Patient Safety in Clinical Trials
May 6, 2019
[12 MIN READ] While the mission of clinical research is to advance the practice of medicine, it is an extremely daunting task to not only manage clinical trials, but to also oversee them to keep patients safe and reduce risk. In a review of numerous malpractice cases related to clinical research, I have found several…Read More
Wrong Site Surgery Statistics
April 15, 2019
The Joint Commission (TJC) defines a Sentinel Event as “a patient safety event (not primarily related to the natural course of the patient’s illness or underlying condition) that reaches a patient and results in any of the following: death, permanent harm, or severe temporary harm and intervention required to sustain life.” TJC adopted a Sentinel…Read More
