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Tjc History

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One of the primary goals of patient care has been safety for a long time. How patient safety is regulated has changed throughout history. Between 1917 and 1918, the American College of Surgeons developed The Minimum Standards for Hospitals which was a one page document that lead to The Joint Commission (TJC, 2014). Founded in 1951 with accreditation beginning January 1953, TJC is currently the oldest and largest organizations setting standards for patient safety (TJC, 2014). The American College of Surgeons required ethics for physicians in 1951 (TJC, 2014). Today TJC and other credentialing organizations require all staff, clinical or not, to participant in patient safety goals. Regardless of the organization you work for, patient safety will …show more content…

The Joint Commission also addresses safety issues through the publication and distribution of the Sentinel Event which identifies a severe breach in safety and addresses ways on how to improve processes and to prevent harm in the future. It also publishes the National Patient Safety Goals which address healthcare safety and ways to solve problems that focus on issues such as identifying patients correctly, improving communication among staff, and administering medications safely, just to name a few. “A majority of Joint Commission standards are directly related to safety, addressing such issues as medication use, infection control, surgery and anesthesia, transfusions, restraint and seclusion, staffing and staff competence, fire safety, medical equipment, emergency management, and security. The standards also include requirements for preventing accidental harm; responding to patient safety events; and the organization’s responsibility to tell patients about the outcomes of their care” (TJC, …show more content…

These guidelines provide nurses with the most up to date regulations to keep their patients safe. Some of the guidelines include; with the administration of all medications or blood products the nurse should use two patient identifiers (such as name, DOB, MRN, and blood band), label all medications and solutions to reduce or eliminate medication errors, and prevent hospital acquired infections by providing Foley care, central line care, performing hand hygiene, etc.(“National Patient Safety Goals,”2015).
Bedside report has also become a critical component to maintain patient safety. In the past nurses would give hand off report at the nurse’s station, leaving their patients alone. This time frame has proven to be when the majority of sentinel events occurred, such as falls (Ofori-Atta, J., 2014). Bedside report keeps patients involved in their care and reduces the risk of errors in communication between nurses and maintains patient

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