NATIONAL PATIENT SAFETY GOALS

Course overview

This course is intended for healthcare providers and nurses working in an acute care setting. The lessons in this course will review the historical aspect of the National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) and the current recommendations from The Joint Commission (TJC). We all have a role in creating a safe healthcare environment for our patients. TJC has worked collaboratively with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and numerous organizations to identify practices and standards to help caregivers maintain a safe patient environment. It is important that healthcare workers have an understanding of the NPSGs and align their practices towards these goals. When the NPSGs are used consistently and correctly implemented, patient outcomes improve significantly. In this activity, we will cover accreditation by TJC. We will review Patient Safety Goals 1-3, 6-7, and 15, which address accuracy of patient identification, effectiveness of communication among caregivers, safety of using medications, clinical alarm systems, healthcare-associated infections, and identification of patients at risk for suicide. We explain and give examples related to Universal Protocol - preventing wrong-site, wrong-procedure, and wrong-person surgery. After completing this activity, practitioners should be able to: discuss the purpose of the National Patient Safety Goals; review strategies for compliance with National Patient Safety Goals; and examine the Universal Protocol and strategies for compliance.