Page 49 - Layout 1

This is a SEO version of Layout 1. Click here to view full version

« Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page »
healthcarejournalbr.com | July / August 2008 Issue |
Healthcare Journal of Baton Rouge
49
can let the nurse know and then she can activate the
RRT as necessary.” OLOL recently implemented what
they call a Five Star program where patients can get an
immediate response to anything they need within 30 min-
utes, although this so far does not include the MET.
OLOL also provides a whiteboard in each room with the
treatment goals for the day and the attending staff listed.
Patients and family members are encouraged to call the
House Manager if they have a problem. A patient initiat-
ed RRT is the next step, said Cathy Guay.
Also on the books for some area hospitals is tying the
RRT in with the electronic health record, so that informa-
tion about a patient entered into the electronic system
could alert the nurse that there is something amiss, or in
some cases even automatically trigger the RRT. “There's
a good possibility we will eventually tie this in somehow
with the electronic health record,” said John Germany at
EKL. “It would certainly be beneficial and we need to get
away from paper.” Some are further along than others,
primarily due to how far along the hospital is with imple-
menting both EHRs and RRTs. However at OLOL, they
have also come up with a medical emergency team alert.
The system, specially written for them by Cerner, works
when certain vital signs are entered into the computer
record by the nurse (now that they have hand-held
devices, this can be real time). If certain changes are
detected, such as a sudden drop in respirations, then an
immediate alert goes out to the MET. “We are still work-
ing out the bugs on this system,” said Guay, “but I think
we are one of the first in the country to take it this far.”
v
Sources: Institute for Healthcare Improvement, www.IHI.org; The Joint
Commission, www.jointcommission.org; 'Failure to Rescue' Phenomenon
Rouses Rapid Response Teams to Action,
NTI News Online
, American
Association of Critical Care Nurses; Kremsdorf, Richard, MD, “Failure to
Rescue and Errors of Omission,” Lionheart Publishing, Inc. 2005; Institute of
Medicine, Committee on Quality of Health Care in America, “To err is human:
Building a safer health system,” L. T. Kohn, J. M. Corrigan, & M. S. Donaldson,
(Eds). Washington, DC: National Academy Press, (2000); JCR Book Excerpt:
Good Practices for Medical Emergency Teams, Joint Commission International
Center for Patient Safety, www.jcipatientsafety.org/15439; The Josie King
Foundation, www.josieking.org
It's like the medical special
forces–an elite team gathered for
a collaborative intervention.
-Prentice Massey, Ochsner
1917:
World War I recruits
screened for psychiatric
disorders.