A Johns Hopkins-led safety checklist program that significantly decreased bloodstream infections in Michigan hospital ICUs appears to have reduced deaths by 10 percent, according to a John Hopkins news release.
The new study is the first to show the safety checklist's effect on mortality rates. Previous research, led by Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhD, professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, found that coupling an infection-control checklist with an environment that empowers nurses to speak up about safety rules reduced ICU central-line bloodstream infections to nearly zero at test hospitals.
For the new study, the researchers examined hospital mortality of patients admitted to ICUs in Michigan before and after the checklist and improved environment were implemented. Patients were significantly more likely to survive a hospital stay during and after the changes were implemented.
Read the Johns Hopkins report on safety checklists.
Read more on patient safety and accreditation:
-Training Requirements for Housekeeping Staff in Surgery Centers: Q&A With Dotty Bollinger of Laser Spine Institute
-Desktop Sterilizers in the Outpatient Setting
-AAAHC Introduces New Handbook for Organizations Seeking Medicare Deemed Status
The new study is the first to show the safety checklist's effect on mortality rates. Previous research, led by Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhD, professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, found that coupling an infection-control checklist with an environment that empowers nurses to speak up about safety rules reduced ICU central-line bloodstream infections to nearly zero at test hospitals.
For the new study, the researchers examined hospital mortality of patients admitted to ICUs in Michigan before and after the checklist and improved environment were implemented. Patients were significantly more likely to survive a hospital stay during and after the changes were implemented.
Read the Johns Hopkins report on safety checklists.
Read more on patient safety and accreditation:
-Training Requirements for Housekeeping Staff in Surgery Centers: Q&A With Dotty Bollinger of Laser Spine Institute
-Desktop Sterilizers in the Outpatient Setting
-AAAHC Introduces New Handbook for Organizations Seeking Medicare Deemed Status