June 04, 2010 01:52am EST 

A hospital is different from most other health care settings in that it provides thousands of inpatients with care for hundreds of different medical reasons. The sheer number of physicians, patients, and cases under one roof gives hospitals responsibilities unrivaled in any other institution. They are in charge of the lives of their patients.
Whether a hospital takes steps to become more environmentally friendly or fight against infections in the hospital, it is important for a hospital to keep their standards for safety and procedure high and consistent. As there are thousands of both healthy and sick people in a hospital at any given time, medical errors and preventable infections that occur in hospitals can be more dangerous than in other systems. Hospitals should follow these patient safety tips to keep their patients alive and healthy.
1. Prevent venous thromboembolism: Hospital-acquired venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the most common cause of preventable deaths. Hospitals should use an evidence-based guide to create a VTE protocol that teaches essential first steps, identifies best practices, analyzes care delivery, and much more.
2. Change hospital discharges: Create a simple discharge plan for each patient that includes a medication schedule, a record of upcoming appointments, and emergency contact information. Taking these steps can heavily reduce preventable re-admissions.
3. Prevent central line-associated blood stream infections: Every time a central venous catheter is inserted make sure that the nurse or physician washes his or her hands, uses full-barrier precautions, cleans their skin with chlorhexidine, avoids femoral lines, and removes unnecessary lines. Doing this eliminates the chance of the infection.
4. Educate patients about blood thinners: Teaching patients about blood thinner and their potential dangerousness can prevent the common adverse drug event.
5. Work with a Patient Safety Organization: Report and share patient safety information with a Patient Safety Organization to prevent avoidable errors. These organizations collect, aggregate, and analyze data to improve quality by reducing risks associated with patient care.
6. Work out a better shift schedule: Tired or fatigued medical residents are more likely to make mistakes — residents should be required to get enough sleep daily and limited to 80-hour workweeks. For residents working 30 hours shifts, they should treat patients for only 16 hours and have a sleep period between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
7 . Design your hospital safely: Make sure your hospital has well-designed patient rooms and allows nurses easy access to patients. Singlebed rooms, better air filtration, and hand-washing statements will reduce hospital infections.
8. Make sure your hospital staff understands patient safety: Surveying hospital staff can help you measure the patient safety culture in hospitals. After measurement, steps can be taken to improve patient safety culture.
9. Insert chest tubes safely: Remember to take the Joint Commission’s protocol “UWET” when inserting chest tubes. That is, universal precautions; wider skin prep; extensive draping; and tray positioning.
10. Build better response systems: Create a system where effective communication and teamwork skills are encouraged.