Patient safety officer - Essay Example

e that standards of the institution are maintained to meet the needs of the client, and continuous improvement of systems in response to hazards that may occur are important in patient safety. By developing the hospital staff through trainings, workshops, drills, et cetera, there will be improvement in rendering care towards clients. Responsibilities of the patient safety officer include overseeing if standards for safety are followed, taking action for hazards, and facilitating staff development activities.

As a responsibility of health care institutions to prevent patients from acquiring hospital-associated infections (HAI), infection control programs are given importance in hospitals. Recent studies propose that the use of evidenced-based practices (EBPs) can help prevent HAIs (Yokoe & Classen, 2008, p.S3). In addition, monitoring of performance based on patient outcomes are recommended evaluative measures. Documentation of infections that occur, if any, as well as the outcomes of EBPs application are important ways to “improve care and as a means to enable customers to choose safer care” (p.S6). In the United States, the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Health care Organizations directs the participation of health care facilities in hazard surveillance rounds (Prezant, et al., p.92).

This is done to assess compliance gaps and identify hazardous conditions, performed semiannually in hospitals and annually in clinics (p.92). It is the duty of the safety officer or manager to lead the activity, record the process, report data, and facilitate improvements with the safe committee (p.92). Risks or hazards identified are managed according to the four Ts strategy of terminating, treating, transferring, and tolerating which may also be adapted in health care. Termination can be done either by making changes in materials used or terminating the operation associated with the risk (Stephans, 2004, p.121). Treatment is performed by applying controls that