Supporting Safer Healthcare

One woman’s courageous response to a devastating sentinel event: My mother was critically burned during surgery in December 2002 when a topical solution was not allowed to dry before the doctor used a cauterizing tool. The entire experience was awful, but the worst realization for me was that nobody would listen. No one apologized, no one showed much [...]

  I’m pleased to announce that the free online Healthcare Administration Quizzes have been revised and reposted at Simple Data Solutions.  Click on Free From SDS.  Enjoy!    

The call comes in on the hospital’s Sentinel Event hotline.  “This is Nurse Jones; I’m calling to report an unanticipated death in the OR.  It appears an error was made…” Risk Management immediately begins an investigation. Staff will be interviewed; equipment may be sequestered and tested; records will be meticulously reviewed.  While all of that is occurring, and often before [...]

Imagine waiting anxiously near a hospital OR to hear word on how your mother’s surgery is going.  You suspect problems because the procedure is taking longer than expected.  The surgeon finally appears, but he reports that the surgery didn’t go well.  He begins to relate details, then suddenly falls to his knees, covers his face with his hands, and says [...]