Your safety is important! At Bluewater Health, we understand that patients want safe, high-quality care, and we have many programs to keep you safe. You have a role too. Here are some things you can do to enhance your own safety while in hospital:
Tell someone: If you have any worries or concerns, please speak up. Research tells us patients can prevent errors by asking questions or alerting someone of their concerns. Click here to contact Bluewater Health.
Ask questions and get information: Learn about your medications, your test results, and your condition. Ask us to explain if we are using terms you haven’t heard before or if information is unclear. Our goal is to provide you with the information you need in a way you can understand.
Wash your hands: One of the simplest ways to stay free of infection is to wash your hands often using soap and water or hand sanitizer.
Carry an up-to-date medication list with you: Make a habit of bringing your home medications or a complete list of your medications, and your vaccination record with you to the hospital.
Here are some of the ways we keep you safe:
Two Identifiers
For your safety, we will ask you for your name and another source of information, such as your date of birth, before we offer you a treatment or medication. You may think we should know your name; however, this simple act of using two distinct identifiers prevents you from being confused with another patient. If you ever feel that you are receiving the wrong treatment or medication, please speak up and ask questions.
Medication Reconciliation
To provide you with safe, quality care, it is important for your healthcare provider to know what medications you take at home, including prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and herbals. Medication reconciliation is the review of your medications. It is performed by your healthcare provider while you are in the hospital, and can occur three times during your stay: when you are admitted, when you are transferred to another unit, and when you are discharged.
Medication reconciliation helps us determine which of your medications will need to be continued, modified, or stopped; what we need to give you during your stay at the hospital; and what the next steps are in your care.
Surgical Safety Checklist
The surgical safety checklist is a patient safety communication tool that is used to discuss important and distinct phases of your surgery. Your surgical team will pause to review this important checklist.
In many ways, the surgical safety checklist can be likened to the checklist used by airline pilots just before take-off. It is the final check by staff at the hospital prior to patient surgery and is used to make sure everyone knows the important medical information they need to know about the patient, all equipment is available and in working order, and that everyone is ready to proceed.
Hand Hygiene
Bluewater Health monitors how often physicians, employees, students and volunteers wash their hands. Hand washing is important to prevent infections. Please never hesitate to ask anyone at Bluewater Health if they have washed their hands. We won’t be offended!