Learn to be a Patient Safety Advocate for Your Friends, Family and People Who Need You
Moms and wives often say they can advocate for their family.
But who will advocate for mom when she is sick?
So you think you would make a good patient safety advocate? With as many as 98,000 deaths in hospitals from preventable medical errors, something has to change, and it may not be coming from the health care system fast enough!
Patients, their families and friends who choose to help the patient through the health care system can play an important role in safe, quality care. This can save health care institutions time and money but more importantly, it can save lives.
Diseases such as breast cancer and AIDS demand the public's attention and lives are saved because of community involvement in education and awareness.
Medical information is often confusing and the language used by medical professionals is not easily understood by the patient, especially when he or she is experiencing stress.
Until the public becomes aware of patient safety, and their role in reducing the unplanned deaths due to medical errors, avoiding infections and misdiagnosis, we will not make the impact needed to reduce deaths and injuries caused by medical errors.
The Institute of Medicine reported in 1999 that as many as 44,000 to 98,000 people die from preventable medical errors in hospitals each year. In April 2006 another study was released by HealthGrades, a Colorado based research organization, stating that New York is one of the worst states in the nation in patient safety.
A patient who is injured, sick, in need of surgery, a medical procedure or just elderly with an ailing body may not be in a position to be active in their care and they may need to focus all their energy on getting well. For this reason, a family member or friend, chosen in advance to be an advocate or “helper” is crucial to the patient's care. But what exactly does an advocate do? Who would make a good advocate?
The person who loves you the most may not be the best advocate for you. His or her emotions may get in the way of good communication and clear decision making.
Through our educational seminars and programs you will learn about preparing for the emergency room and helping a patient to prepare for surgery. You will learn about policies and standards used in the hospital to keep patients safe and how you can help to ensure these standards are met. You will also learn that the most important tool will be a pen and notebook to write down information and keep accurate records for the patient.
This information should not take the place of a reliable relationship between the patient and their health care provider but should work as a tool to answer some basic questions about advocating for your friend or family member when they need you most. To be part of a workshop, please visit the workshop schedule. To host a workshop, please call (516) 579-4711.
Sincerely,
Ilene Corina, Patient Safety Advocate
President, PULSE of NY, Inc.
This project was made possible with funding by Gilead Sciences Inc., Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund, National Patient Safety Foundation, North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, and N.Y. State Senator Kemp Hannon.
Workshop Development Advisors
Anna Baracchini, RN, Certified Professional Healthcare Quality
John Bilello RPh.
Ilene Corina, Patient Safety Advocate
Lawrence Eisenstein, MD
Carlo Esposito, PhD, Associate Executive Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Management
Leslie Farrington MD
JoJo Granoff
Susan Okun, LCSW
Monica Santoro RN, CPHRM, CPHQ
For more information on patient safety and advocacy visit:
Thank You to Our Workshop Sponsors
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