| The Medical University of South Carolina is committed to providing our patients with the safest and highest quality healthcare available. A very important part of this commitment is our focus and commitment to your safety.
There is little debate that patients who are more involved with their care in the hospital tend do much better and stay safer. By working together with your physicians, nurses and other hospital staff, you can play a key role in lowering your risk of injury and help us insure that your hospital stay is as safe as possible. The following resources are designed to educate our patients on issues related to patient safety.
| | Patient Identification | You should have an identification (ID) band that you will wear while you are in the hospital. Staff should check your ID band or verify your identity before giving you any medicine or performing any procedure.
If you have allergies such as medicine and food, you should have an ID band that is dark pink.
Some areas of the hospital may have additional patient identification safeguards. | | Medication Safety | Taking the right medicine is important. Make sure your nurse checks your ID band before giving you any medicine.
- Tell the doctors and nurses about any allergies to food, medicines, or other things before taking your medicine, especially when you first come into the hospital.
- Do not take any medicine or herbal supplements you have brought from home without first checking with the doctor. Then send home any medicine you will not be taking in the hospital.
- Ask what the medicine is for. Ask what side effects to expect.
- Ask questions about your medicines or anything else that may seem different. For example, if the medicine looks different from what you take at home, make sure to tell the nurse.
- Before you leave the hospital, ask what medicines you are able to take after leaving, what the medicines are for, how to take them, and how often to take them.
- Tell your nurse about anything that worries you about your medicine.
When you pick up your medicine at the drugstore: - Make sure it is what your doctor wanted you to have.
- Ask what the medicine is used for and how to take it and how often.
- Ask what side effects are important to know about.
| | Food and Nutrition | Eating the right food is important for your recovery. - Be sure you know what kinds of food your doctor has ordered for you.
- If you have questions about your diet, ask to speak to a registered dietitian.
- Some foods you eat may cause some of your medicines to not work as well. Please ask your nurse about this.
| | Infection Control | Illness can spread in hospitals where healthcare workers
Do not wash their hands. You are responsible for: - Asking anyone who touches you whether they have washed their hands or used the hand sanitizer. There is hand sanitizer in each patient room and in each outpatient clinic area for health care workers to use.
- Asking any visitor who is sick or has an infection, even a cold, not to visit you. This may help you and other patients get well faster.
- Following all instructions for the care of tubes and catheters.
- Knowing that any healthcare worker who handles your blood or other body fluids should wear gloves.
| | | | | Medication Safety | Make sure that your doctor and nurse knows about all the medications you are taking. This includes prescription and over-the-counter medicines, and dietary supplements such as vitamins and herbs.
Make sure your doctor and nurse knows about any allergies and adverse reactions you have had to medicines. This can help you avoid getting a medicine that can harm you.
When your doctor writes you a prescription or gives you a new drug, ask your nurse or doctor what the drug is and why you need to take it. Ask for information about your medicines in terms you can understand—both when your medicines are prescribed and when you receive them. For example you may want to ask: | | | What is the medicine for?
How am I supposed to take it, and for how long?
What side effects are likely?
What do I do if they occur?
Is this safe to take with other medicines or supplements I am taking?
What food, drink, or activities should I avoid while taking this medicine?
What are the brand and generic names of the medications?
When is the best time to take it?
What should I do if I miss a dose?
Does this replace anything else I was taking?
Where and how do I store it?
Remember you as a patient have a right to know and understand what we are doing to treat your illness.
If you do not recognize the medicine, pill etc., that you are being told to take ask to make sure that it is for you.
Never take medications that you brought into the hospital from your home unless told to do so by your doctor or hosptial staff. Such actions without the knowledge of your doctor could harm you or worse yet result in a preventable death. When you pick up your medicine from the pharmacy, ask:
Is this the medicine that my doctor prescribed?
A study by the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences found that 88 percent of medicine errors involved the wrong drug or the wrong dose. If you have any questions about the directions on your medicine labels, ask.
Medicine labels can be hard to understand. For example, ask if "four doses daily" means taking a dose every 6 hours around the clock or just during regular waking hours. Ask your pharmacist for the best device to measure your liquid medicine. Also, ask questions if you’re not sure how to use it.
Research shows that many people do not understand the right way to measure liquid medicines. For example, many use household teaspoons, which often do not hold a true teaspoon of liquid. Special devices, like marked syringes, help people to measure the right dose. Being told how to use the devices helps even more. Ask for written information about the side effects your medicine could cause.
If you know what might happen, you will be better prepared if it does happen or if something unexpected happens instead. That way, you can report the problem right away and get help before it gets worse. A study found that written information about medicines can help patients recognize problem side effects and then give that information to their doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.
At least once a year, bring all of your medicines and supplements with you to your doctor. "Brown bagging" your medicines can help you and your doctor talk about them and find out if there are any problems. It can also help your doctor keep your records up to date, which can help you get better quality care. | | | | Stopping the Spread of Germs | Infection can spread when people do not wash their hands and when family or visitors with “colds” or infections visit. Infections include cough, runny nose, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and skin infections. Ways to help keep germs from spreading: WASH YOUR HANDS! Hand washing can be done by washing hands with soap and water or by using an alcohol hand wash. Alcohol hand wash is located in each patient’s room and in each clinic area for healthcare workers and visitors to use.
Wash your hands often. Wash them when you first get to your child’s bedside, after using the bathroom, before eating, and before leaving your child’s bedside.
Ask your child’s care provider if he has washed his hands or used the alcohol hand wash before he provides care to your child.
Know that any healthcare worker who handles your child’s blood or other body fluids should wear gloves.
Tell your child’s doctor or nurse if you have an infection. They can tell you what to do to protect your child from “catching” your infection.
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