2011 National Patient Safety Goals

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It’s our goal to practice patient safety everyday at University Health System. Everyone plays a vital role in providing quality patient care. From the office clerk to the pharmacist, to the physician to the patient, it’s everyone’s responsibility. And, it’s our mission!

The purpose of the National Patient Safety Goals is to improve patient safety. The goals focus on problems in health care safety and how to solve them.

Identify patients correctly

Use at least two ways to identify patients. For example, use the patient’s name and date of birth. This is done to make sure that each patient gets the medicine and treatment meant for them.

Make sure that the correct patient gets the correct blood type when they get a blood transfusion.

Improve staff communication

Quickly get important test results to the right staff person.

Use medicines safely

Label all medicines that are not already labeled. For example, medicines in syringes, cups and basins.

Take extra care with patients who take medicines to thin their blood.

Prevent infection

Use the hand cleaning guidelines from the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Use proven guidelines to prevent infections that are difficult to treat.

Use proven guidelines to prevent infection of the blood.

Use safe practices to treat the part of the body where surgery was done.

Check patient medicines

Identify patient safety risks

Find out which patients are most likely to try to kill themselves.

Watch patients closely for changes in their health and respond quickly if they need help

Create ways to get help from specially-trained staff when a patient’s health appears to get worse.

Resource Links:

The Joint Commission - www.thejointcommision.org
The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.

National Patient Safety Foundation - www.npsf.org
The National Patient Safety Foundation is the indispensable resource for individuals and organizations committed to improving the safety of patients.