Infection Control: Learning Through Action to Reduce Infection

AHRQ

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This is a quick, simple action tool to use when a patient has a confirmed infection such as a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacterium, Clostridium difficile (C. diff), or other life-threatening infections. It is based on the root cause analysis (RCA) approach, and it is primarily a learning exercise. The tool is available as a PDF, requiring Adobe Reader.

Medication Reconciliation Toolkit

Developed by the Forum of ESRD Networks' Medical Advisory Council (MAC), this toolkit was developed to assist facilities in designing quality improvement projects to improve care for ESRD patients. The toolkit walks through what facilities should assess, measure, do, and study in the development process. Examples and suggestions are provided through out the document. The document is available as a PDF and requires Adobe Reader.

Medication Management Guideline

Developed by the Health Care Association of New Jersey, this guideline is designed to assist health care providers in developing and implementing systems to reduce medication errors, and improve the quality of care for adults in health care facilities. The guideline covers strategies on managing medications from the step of prescribing to administering and monitoring. The ultimate objective of the guideline is to also reduce risk and professional liability. Please note, this document is not a medication-specific guideline.

Survey User's Guide: Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture

AHRQ developed this guide for pharmacy staff in order to provide a general overview of the issues and decisions required to conduct a survey and how to report the result. The purpose of this survey is to : Raise staff awareness about patient and medication safety, Assess the current status of patient safety culture, Identify strengths and areas for patient safety culture improvement, Examine trends in patient safety culture change over time, Evaluate the cultural impact of patient safety initiatives and interventions and Conduct internal and external comparisons.

Severe Sepsis Practice Alert and Tools

This Practice Alert from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) provides brief, vital instructions to improve management and prevent mortality in patients with severe sepsis. The AACN Practice AlertsTM are short directives designed for easy reference. The toolkit is available as web pages and PDFs and requires a web browser and Adobe Reader to view them.

Disclosure Toolkit and Disclosure Culture Assessment Tool

The Disclosure Toolkit’s key principles and resources help to develop an organizational culture that promotes respect and improves communication after an adverse event. The Disclosure Culture Assessment Tool enables organizations to determine their current cultural environment and structures needed around safety and disclosure of adverse events. The toolkit is available as web pages and PDFs and requires a web browser and Adobe Reader to view them.

Protect Your Patients. Protect Yourself Toolkit

This toolkit features Best Practice models and multiple resource materials, that infection control specialists can use to encourage health care institutions to implement or expand their health care worker immunization programs. Sample communications tools designed to reach healthcare personnel with information about the importance of annual influenza immunization, and promote internal influenza immunization programs sponsored by employers. The toolkit is available as group of several web pages and requires a web browser to view it.

Surveys on Patient Safety Culture Hospital Survey Toolkit

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) sponsored the development of patient safety culture assessment tools for hospitals, nursing homes, ambulatory outpatient medical offices and pharmacies.

Safe Patient Handling Equipment Challenges in Inpatient Psychiatric Units: Design Recommendations and Potential Solutions

Work related musculoskeletal back, neck, and arm injuries in nursing staff most commonly result from patient handling tasks. The tools and resources from the VISN 8 Patient Safety Center of Inquiry were developed as part of an effort to implement a safe patient handling (SPH) program and decrease risk related to patient handling and movement. These tools will help to raise satisfaction among patients and staff; decrease the number and severity of injuries among caregivers; and improve quality patient care. The toolkit is available as a PDF and requires Adobe Reader to view it.

How to Create an Accurate Medication List in the Outpatient Setting through a Patient-Centered Approach

The purpose of this Toolkit is to provide information and guidance for implementing a patient-centered approach, focusing on medication safety, in an outpatient setting. The Toolkit is valuable to managers who are responsible for development, implementation and evaluation of safety in an outpatient setting. The toolkit also provides detailed descriptions to adopt and/or adapt medication reconciliation and includes a how-to guide for improving medication list accuracy.

Immunization of Health-Care Personnel Recommendations of the (ACIP)

Because of their contact with patients or infective material from patients, Healthcare Personnel (HCP) are at risk for exposure to and possible transmission of vaccine-preventable diseases. Employers and HCP have a shared responsibility to prevent occupationally acquired infections and avoid possible harm to patients. This guide outlines all current ACIP recommendations for vaccination of HCP. These recommendations can assist hospital administrators, infection-control practitioners, employee health clinicians, and HCP in optimizing infection prevention and control programs.