Patient Safety Information - Information Sheet for Patients

Click the 3 links below to read their respective information.

1. How to Protect Yourself or Your Family in the Hospital

2. What to Ask Your Doctor About Your Medication

3. How to Protect Yourself or Your Family From Problems with Surgery

How to protect yourself or your family in the hospital

There is no question that hospitals do wonderful things and save lives. There is also no question that “bad things can happen to good people” in a hospital. Here are some suggestions on how to decrease the risk of problems during hospitalization:

1. Protect yourself from infection. Hospital acquired infections are among the most common and serious complications you can get in a hospital. The most dangerous and antibiotic resistant germs in the world are found in hospitals. Post this sign requesting that all personnel who touch you wash their hands before each touch. This simple step, often forgotten, will decrease the risk of a serious hospital acquired infection.
2. If you have an open wound or fresh surgery and have to be in a semi-private room make sure your roommate does not have an active infection; particularly a staph infection. If they do, request you be moved to a different room.
3. If you are being given a urinary catheter (bladder catheter) ask if it is really necessary. If it is, ask that it be kept in the minimum length of time and that personnel be extra careful to use infection preventing measures when inserting and servicing the catheter and system.
4. Protect yourself from medication errors. Medication errors are very common and can be deadly. If you are on medication at home make sure to bring a complete list of all of the medications including dosage with you. If you are supposed to be continued on home meds make sure you are given what you were taking at home. Ask for the nurses to double check the doctor’s orders against your list.
5. If you are presented with an unfamiliar medicine ask what it is and make sure it is ordered by the doctor. If medicine is given by intravenous injection ask about the dose and over what period it is to be administered.
6. If you are given narcotics, particularly by intravenous, make sure the dosage is not too high and you are properly monitored. Some patients, especially those with a history of sleep apnea, can stop breathing if given doses of narcotics that would be tolerated by most other people.
7. Protect yourself from falling. Ask the nurses if you are at high risk for falls. If you are, ask if all precautions are being taken to prevent falling including the use of a bed alarm.
8. Protect yourself from inadequate monitoring. Ask what kind of monitoring you are supposed to be on. If you are on a heart monitor make sure it is not removed. Ask how frequently you are supposed to have your vital signs checked and make sure that is done as ordered.
9. Many hospitals are understaffed, particularly on the night shift where there is often not only understaffing but nursing personnel with a lack of experience. If you can afford it hire private duty nursing. If you can only afford private duty nursing part of the day choose the night shift. If you cannot afford private duty nursing have a family member with you who can observe what is happening and advocate for you.
10. Protect yourself from inadequate communication. If you believe there is a significant change in your condition or something occurs and you believe your doctor needs to know to now insist your doctor be called regardless of the hour. If the nurse refuses to call your doctor ask to speak to the nursing supervisor.

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What to Ask Your Doctor About Your Medication

Medications are a very important component of health care. Used properly medications can do enormous good. However, improper use can result in great harm to the patient. It is estimated up to 20% of Emergency Room visits are the result of adverse reactions to medications.

Patients should feel free to ask their doctors questions about their medications and doctors should be willing to carefully listen to their patients and answer these questions. Some good questions to ask include:

1. Why is this medication being given to me?
2. Is it necessary?
3. What are the risks of not taking this medication?
4. How long do I need to take the medication? (Sometimes medication meant for short term use is taken for a long time because of communication errors).
5. Does this medication interact with any of my other medications? (Often patients are treated by several different doctors including specialists. It is important to bring a list of all of your medications you take including doses and how long you have taken the medicine each time you go to a doctor visit where medication may be prescribed). You can check for interactions between all of your prescription and non-prescription drugs at www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html.
6. How long have you been prescribing this medication?
7. What are the significant potential side effects of this medication?
8. What should I do if I notice any potential side effects?
9. Is there a less expensive alternative? (Many doctors are influenced by drug companies to prescribe expensive new medications when older established medicines would be just as effective and much less expensive).
10. Is there a safer alternative? (Many medications, although effective, have significant potential side effects. There are often alternatives which are safer. If a safer alternative is available which has the same expected benefits then the safer drug should be used).
11. Could you please legibly print the prescription or have it typed? (It is not unusual for a doctor to have bad penmanship. When a prescription is handwritten mistakes can be made on either the medicine or the dosage).

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How to Protect Yourself or Your Family From Problems with Surgery

What to ask your doctor about recommended surgery

Surgery is often recommended to patients. There is no doubt that properly performed surgery which is indicated and done by a doctor who is experienced can be valuable and life-saving. There are also many complications and injuries from surgery and some of them are avoidable with the proper information.

Patients should feel free to ask their doctors about recommended surgery and doctors should be willing to carefully listen to their patients and answer their questions. Some good questions to ask include:

1. Why is this surgery being recommended?
2. Is this surgery necessary?
3. Are there alternative operations that are less expensive?
4. Are there alternative operations that are safer? (If an alternative is safer and has the same expected benefits then the safer procedure should be done unless there is a good reason not to).
5. What are the risks of not having this surgery? (This is very important. On occasion it is important to have an operation but the patient refuses because of a lack of understanding about the importance).
6. When does the surgery need to be performed? Can it be done later or is it urgent? What are the risks of waiting?
7. How many times have you done this surgery? (Some operations have a long “learning curve” requiring many procedures before a doctor is good enough to have success with low complications. If that is the kind of surgery recommended and the doctor is inexperienced it should be done only with the assistance of someone with adequate experience or by somebody else).
8. What are the significant potential complications of this surgery and how often do they occur?
9, How long will the operation take? How long will I be in the hospital? How long before I can resume household activities? How long before I can return to work?
10. What kind of anesthesia is required for this surgery? Are there any special considerations the doctor giving the anesthesia needs to know? (If possible, unless the surgery is very simple (local anesthesia) it is better to have an M.D. anesthesiologist rather than a nurse anesthetist do the anesthesia. You have the right to request a doctor rather than a nurse for increased safety. There is no difference in cost.
11. Where will the surgery be performed? (Some operations are done in a hospital and some in outpatient facilities. If not in a hospital ask if the outpatient facility has the ability to deal with potential complications as safely as a hospital can).

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Knoxville TN, 37918

Tel: (865) 687-0272
Fax: (865) 381-0575