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Task 1: Executive Summary

Assessment Code: AFT2

Executive Summary: Nightingale Community Hospital Joint Commission Compliance Standards for Communication Focus Area

Recently there has been much media focus on preventable medical errors. Any google search will produce a multitude of news articles that all report that preventable medical errors is now the third leading cause of death in the United States. Poor communication plays a role in most if not all of these errors. In fact the Joint Commission (2012) has published that an estimated 80% of serious medical errors involve miscommunication between caregivers during the transfer of patients. While communication errors are not the sole cause, they certainly contribute to the problem and must be a consideration in every patient safety program. One particular area of preventable medical errors involving communication errors that has received widespread media attention is wrong site surgery. Chassin (2013) reported that wrong site or wrong person surgery occurs an estimated 50 times weekly in the United States. This number is hard to judge exactly as not all states mandate reporting, but the fact remains that wrong site surgery continues to occur despite concerted efforts to prevent it. All hospitals to include Nightingale must continue to place emphasis on preventing these errors. Nightingale has wisely chosen to focus on this area for the upcoming Joint Commission inspection as part of the overall communication focus in the hospital.
Current Status

There are three Joint Commission Standards that relate specifically to preventing wrong site surgeries. UP.01.01.01 to UP.01.01.03 focus on adopting a Universal Protocol throughout all areas of the hospital in order to ensure that the right patient, right procedure and right site is identified 100% of