- Section 1 ICU organization and management
- Part 1.1 The intensive care unit
- Part 1.2 Communication
- Part 1.3 Training
- Part 1.4 Safety and quality
- Chapter 16 Patient safety in the ICU
- Chapter 17 Policies, bundles, and protocols in critical care
- Chapter 18 Managing biohazards and environmental safety
- Chapter 19 Managing ICU staff welfare, morale, and burnout
- Part 1.5 Governance
- Part 1.6 Research
- Part 1.7 Medico-legal and ethical issues
- Part 1.8 Critical illness risk prediction
- Section 2 Pharmacotherapeutics
- Section 3 Resuscitation
- Section 4 The respiratory system
- Section 5 The cardiovascular system
- Section 6 The gastrointestinal system
- Section 7 Nutrition
- Section 8 The renal system
- Section 9 The neurological system
- Section 10 The metabolic and endocrine systems
- Section 11 The haematological system
- Section 12 The skin and connective tissue
- Section 13 Infection
- Section 14 Inflammation
- Section 15 Poisoning
- Section 16 Trauma
- Section 17 Physical disorders
- Section 18 Pain and sedation
- Section 19 General surgical and obstetric intensive care
- Section 20 Specialized intensive care
- Section 21 Recovery from critical illness
- Section 22 End-of-life care
(p. 71) Patient safety in the ICU
- Chapter:
- (p. 71) Patient safety in the ICU
- Author(s):
Bradford D. Winters
and Peter J. Pronovost
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199600830.003.0016
While patient safety and quality have become a major focus of health care providers, policy makers, and customers over the last decade and a half, progress has been limited and wide quality gaps, where patient do not receive the care they should, remain. While technical improvements have gone a long way in these efforts, adaptive improvements in the culture of safety need to be more vigorously addressed. Likewise, quality metrics and a scientific approach to patient safety is necessary to ensure that interventions actually work. The Comprehensive Unit Safety Program (CUSP) strategy and its embedded Learning from Defects (LFD) process are central to creating a sustainable improvement in the culture of patient safety and quality, and in real outcomes and process improvements. CUSP is a bottom-up approach that relies on the wisdom and efforts of front-line providers who best know the safety issues in their immediate environment. The LFD process seeks to translate evidence into practice (TRiP model) building interventions and tools to improve safety and close the quality gap. The development of these interventions and tools are guided by the principles of safe design and the application of the four E’s (engagement, education, execution, and evaluation) can be successfully implemented into the health care environment with substantial improvements in safety and quality.
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- Section 1 ICU organization and management
- Part 1.1 The intensive care unit
- Part 1.2 Communication
- Part 1.3 Training
- Part 1.4 Safety and quality
- Chapter 16 Patient safety in the ICU
- Chapter 17 Policies, bundles, and protocols in critical care
- Chapter 18 Managing biohazards and environmental safety
- Chapter 19 Managing ICU staff welfare, morale, and burnout
- Part 1.5 Governance
- Part 1.6 Research
- Part 1.7 Medico-legal and ethical issues
- Part 1.8 Critical illness risk prediction
- Section 2 Pharmacotherapeutics
- Section 3 Resuscitation
- Section 4 The respiratory system
- Section 5 The cardiovascular system
- Section 6 The gastrointestinal system
- Section 7 Nutrition
- Section 8 The renal system
- Section 9 The neurological system
- Section 10 The metabolic and endocrine systems
- Section 11 The haematological system
- Section 12 The skin and connective tissue
- Section 13 Infection
- Section 14 Inflammation
- Section 15 Poisoning
- Section 16 Trauma
- Section 17 Physical disorders
- Section 18 Pain and sedation
- Section 19 General surgical and obstetric intensive care
- Section 20 Specialized intensive care
- Section 21 Recovery from critical illness
- Section 22 End-of-life care