On March 8, hospitals all across the country will mark National Patient Safety Awareness Week with educational events and other efforts aimed at ensuring their staffs know how to protect their patients from harm.
Here at the AARC we work to help respiratory therapists ensure safe care for their patients through several projects and programs –
- Our Patient Safety Roundtable is open to all members at no extra charge and is a great place to share your patient safety concerns and success stories.
- We have three Patient Safety Checklists you can put to work in your facility. Oxygenation Monitoring During In-Hospital Transport for Neonates and Infants and Oxygenation Monitoring During In-Hospital Transport for Pediatrics and Adults spell out the steps to take to keep patients breathing easy during trips from their hospital rooms to testing areas. Our Adult Risk Assessment Checklist for ICU Readmissions outlines the risk factors involved in an impending readmission to the ICU.
- Visit our Past Programs page on Webcast Central to find a number of educational sessions on patient safety, from “Disruptive Behavior-A Threat to Patient Safety” to “Interdisciplinary Communication: Strategies to Improve Patient Safety” to “Patient Safety and the Hazards of Suctioning.”
The AARC also represents your interests at patient safety conferences that may be held by other stakeholders in health care. Most recently, the Association was on hand for the third annual Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit in Irvine, CA, where our Executive Director Thomas Kallstrom, MBA, RRT, FAARC, accepted a Humanitarian Award on behalf of all the RTs out there who work to keep their patients safe from harm every day.
Last fall we were also represented at a National Coalition to Promote Continuous Monitoring of Patients on Opioids meeting in Chicago, IL. More than 50 stakeholder groups participated in the event to share information about negative outcomes due to unmonitored opioid use outside of the ICU, as well as to share best practices to prevent these negative outcomes.
Later in 2015, the AARC will launch a new website initiative that addresses Quality & Safety and the RT. The website will serve as a clearinghouse of quality and safety metrics, best practices, and initiatives specific to the practice of respiratory care.
Email newsroom@aarc.org with questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you.
