Pitching Patient Safety and Hospital Transparency on YouTube

From the Wall Street Journal Health Blog:

After a medical error, hospitals’ traditional approach has been to retreat behind a wall of silence, on the advice of risk managers and attorneys. But some hospitals are taking a different approach, fully disclosing medical errors, apologizing and offering financial compensation up front – and inviting patients and families to participate in patient safety improvement efforts.

Murray Gives MJ Meds. Murder?

From CNN:

But on June 25, other drugs failed to do the job, as he recounted to detectives in an hour-by-hour account that was detailed by detective Orlando Martinez of the Los Angeles Police Department:

– At about 1:30 a.m., Murray gave Jackson 10 mg of Valium.

– At about 2 a.m., he injected Jackson with 2 mg of the anti-anxiety drug Ativan.

– At about 3 a.m., Murray then administered 2 mg of the sedative Versed.

– At about 5 a.m., he administered another 2 mg of Ativan.

– At about 7:30 a.m., Murray gave Jackson yet another 2 mg of Versed while monitoring him with a device that measured the oxygen saturation of his blood.

– At about 10:40 a.m., “after repeated demands/requests from Jackson,” Murray administered 25 mg of propofol, the document said.

“Jackson finally went to sleep and Murray stated that he remained monitoring him. After approximately 10 minutes, Murray stated he left Jackson’s side to go to the restroom and relieve himself. Murray stated he was out of the room for about two minutes maximum. Upon his return, Murray noticed that Jackson was no longer breathing,” the affidavit said.

Efforts at CPR proved fruitless, according Murray.

Improving communication in the emergency departmen

From Emergency Medicine Journal:

Background: A previous study examined the communication process within the emergency department (ED) and identified a complex process with many opportunities for breakdown and error. In this paper the first two interventions in a series of studies to improve this highly vulnerable communication process are described.

Aim: To improve the reliability of two steps of the communication process identified as having a high probability of failure: (1) transfer of information between the ambulance crew and the emergency staff; and (2) preparation of written documentation following patient assessment.

Conclusion: Observational study and audit revealed the extent of process failures identified in the initial FMEA process. With the introduction of simple changes to the communication system, a marked improvement in the availability and quality of pertinent clinical information was achieved with considerable implications for the timeliness and quality of care provided to patients.

Resuscitation on television: Realistic or ridiculous? A quantitative observational analysis of the portrayal of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in television medical drama

From Resuscitation:

Patients’ preferences for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) relate to their perception about the likelihood of success of the procedure. There is evidence that the lay public largely base their perceptions about CPR on their experience of the portrayal of CPR in the media. The medical profession has generally been critical of the portrayal of CPR on medical drama programmes although there is no recent evidence to support such views.

Whilst the immediate success rate of CPR in medical television drama does not significantly differ from reality the lack of depiction of poorer medium to long term outcomes may give a falsely high expectation to the lay public. Equally the lay public may perceive that the incidence and likely success of CPR is equal across all age groups.