Week highlights awareness of patient safety

This week is National Patient Safety Awareness Week, designed to raise public awareness of patient safety in healthcare. At Bonner General Hospital, providing a safe environment for our patients is an ongoing priority. From the admissions staff to the pharmacists to the nurses to the patients, everyone plays a vital role in providing safe, quality patient care.

The Joint Commission, which is the accrediting body for hospitals, has established National Patient Safety Goals to promote specific and standardized improvements in patient safety in hospitals across the nation. These goals, which are updated annually, are used to measure hospital safety.

To earn or maintain accreditation by the Joint Commission, hospitals must demonstrate that they have adopted the National Patient Safety Goals and have corresponding procedures in place to protect patients from the negative impact of specific healthcare errors. This accreditation is sometimes described as the equivalent of the Good Housekeeping “Seal of Approval” for hospitals. It tells the public that the hospital is a good place to receive care.

Bonner General Hospital is proud to be fully-accredited by the Joint Commission and has earned its Gold Seal of Approval.  BGH has adopted all of the National Patient Safety Goals, which are to:

• Identify patients correctly

• Improve staff communication

• Use medicines safely

• Prevent healthcare-associated infections

• Check patient medicines

• Prevent patients from falling

• Help patients to be actively involved in their own care

• Identify patient safety risks

• Watch patients closely for changes in their health and respond quickly

• Prevent errors in surgery

The hospital is also an active participant in the Joint Commission’s SpeakUp program, an initiative designed to help reduce the risk of healthcare errors by encouraging patients to become active, involved, informed members of their healthcare team.

As our community’s local, not-for-profit hospital, we are dedicated to providing quality, compassionate care to our community in a safe, patient-centered environment. If you have any questions about the National Patient Safety Goals or other patient safety initiatives at the hospital, please call Linda Rammler, director of quality improvement, at 263-1441.

n Lynda Metz is the director of community development for Bonner General Hospital.