Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals: How One Doctor's Checklist Can Help Us Change Health Care from the Inside Out The inspiring story of how a leading innovator in patient safety found a simple way to save countless lives. First, do no harm-doctors, nurses and clinicians swear by this code of conduct. Yet in hospitals and doctors' offices across the country, errors are made every single day - avoidable, simple mistakes that often cost lives. Inspired by two medical mistakes that not only ended in unnecessary deaths but hit close to home, Dr. Peter Pronovost made it his personal mission to improve patient safety and make preventable deaths a thing of the past, one hospital at a time. Dr. Pronovost began with simple improvements to a common procedure in the ER and ICU units at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Creating an easy five-step checklist based on the most up-to-date research for his fellow doctors and nurses to follow, he hoped that streamlining the procedure itself could slow the rate of infections patients often died from. But what Dr. Pronovost discovered was that doctors and nurses needed more than a checklist: the day-to-day environment needed to be more patient-driven and staff needed to see scientific results in order to know their efforts were a success. After those changes took effect, the units Dr. Pronovost worked with decreased their rate of infection by 70%. Today, all fifty states are implementing Dr. Pronovost's programs, which have the potential to save more lives than any other medical innovation in the past twenty-five years. But his ideas are just the beginning of the changes being made by doctors and nurses across the country making huge leaps to improve patient care. In Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals, Dr. Pronovost shares his own experience, anecdotal stories from his colleagues at Johns Hopkins and other hospitals that have made his approach their own, alongside comprehensive research-showing readers how small changes make a huge difference in patient care. Inspiring and thought provoking, this compelling book shows how one person with a cause really can make a huge difference in our lives. |
Other editions - View all
Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals: How One Doctor's Checklist Can Help Us ... Peter J. Pronovost,Eric Vohr No preview available - 2010 |
Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals: How One Doctor's Checklist Can Help Us ... Peter Pronovost,Eric Vohr No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
alarm anesthesiologists antibiotics asked believed better blood bloodstream infections Center central line catheter central line infections checklist chlorhexidine Chris clinicians communication created CT scan culture CUSP team daily goals developed didn’t doctors doctors and nurses Ed Miller ensure floor going handoff happen harm patients heart Hospital Association identify implement improve patient improve safety infection rates institution intensivists Johns Hopkins Josie Josie's knew knowledge market latex allergy learned look Marlene measurement medical errors medicine methadone Michigan mistakes monitor nurse practitioner OHRP operating room patient safety percent physicians prevent problem procedures Pronovost quality improvement reduce resident risk safer safety program safety research Sandlers save lives science of safety Senator SICU Sorrel staff started stroke success sure surgeon surgery surgical talk teamwork tell Thanks told treatment TRIP understand unit wanted Weinberg-4C WICU