Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) was developed in the late 1940’s by the U.S. military as a means of determining the effect of system and equipment failures. In the 1960’s, NASA refined the FMEA as a means to improve reliability of space hardware. FMEA was introduced into healthcare in the 1990’s. When properly completed, a FMEA identifies and mitigates potential risks. Continue reading
In our last article, I revealed some very unfortunate statistics- hospitals are not as safe for patients as we might have thought. As a pharmacist on the inside looking out, it is often hard to accept the facts as they are presented. These facts, unfortunately, are true. We have to change the way we think and the way we perform our work to begin changing those statistics. We also have to bring our colleagues along with us on this journey. Continue reading
Recent articles in healthcare journals reveal a sad truth: hospitals are still not as safe as they should be. One article states that one in three patients are harmed during a hospital stay and of this 33%, 7% either die or are permanently harmed. Continue reading