It’s our goal to practice patient safety every day at University Health. Everyone plays a vital role in providing quality patient care. From the office clerk to the pharmacist, to the physician to the patient, it’s everyone’s responsibility. And it’s our mission.

The purpose of the National Patient Safety Goals is to improve patient safety. The goals focus on problems in health care safety and how to solve them.

Identify Patients Correctly

Use at least two ways to identify patients. For example, use the patient’s name and date of birth. This is done to make sure that each patient gets the correct medicine and treatment.

Make sure that the correct patient gets the correct blood when they get a blood transfusion.

Improve Staff Communication

Get important test results to the right staff person on time.

Use Medicines Safely

Before a procedure, label medicines that are not labeled. For example, medicines in syringes, cups and basins should be labeled. Do this in the area where medicines and supplies are set up.

Take extra care with patients who take medicines to thin their blood.

Record and pass along correct information about a patient’s medicine. Find out what medicines the patient is taking. Compare those medicines to new medicines given to the patient. Make sure the patient knows which medicines to take when they are at home. Tell the patient it is important to bring their up-to-date list of medicines every time they visit a doctor.

Prevent Infection

Use the hand cleaning guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health Organization.

Use proven guidelines to prevent infections:

• That are difficult to treat
• Of the blood from central lines
• After surgery
• Of the urinary tract that are caused by catheters 

Identify Patient Safety Risks

• Make sure that the correct surgery is done on the correct patient and at the correct place on the patient’s body.
• Mark the correct place on the patient’s body where the surgery is to be done.
• Pause before the surgery to make sure that a mistake is not being made.

Smoking Policy

Smoking is not allowed on any University Health campus. Learn about our smoking cessation program if you need help quitting.

Resources

The Joint Commission
The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.

National Patient Safety Foundation
The National Patient Safety Foundation is the indispensable resource for individuals and organizations committed to improving the safety of patients.