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AAP offers policy statement on pediatric patient safety
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Education, advocacy and adherence to best practices were three key areas suggested by the American Academy of Pediatrics to increase patient safety in a guideline statement published recently.
“The depth and breadth of harm incurred by the practice of medicine is still being defined as reports continue to uncover a variety of avoidable errors, from those that involve specific high-risk medications to those that are more generalizable, such as patient misidentification,” the Steering Committee on Quality Improvement and Management and Committee on Hospital Care members wrote. They outlined the cornerstones of improving pediatric patient safety, including raised awareness of safety issues, advocacy and action strategies, and a goal of improved outcomes.
Education, awareness of best practices, networking, cultural changes and expanded focus were the key elements of the raised awareness section of the recommendations.
Advocacy and action should be carried out by pediatric-specific error reporting, improved leadership and enhanced family-centered care, according to the guidelines.
Adherence to best practices, targeting drug safety, the redesign of clinical systems and the focus on supporting research were suggested avenues toward improved patient outcomes.
“It is only through complete incorporation of the culture of safety, assumption of personal responsibility for patient care outcomes, increasing examination of the risk areas for pediatric patient safety, and deployment and rigorous evaluation of systems enhancements that the risks of medical errors to children can be reduced further,” the committee members wrote.
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