Journal of healthcare protection management : publication of the International Association for Hospital Security最新文献

Many hospitals use color codes to denote internal (i.e. patient respiratory distress), or external (i.e. natural disasters) emergencies, via public announcement systems. Variations in the codes used by different hospitals can create confusion among providers who may practice in more than one hospital. This study sought to understand emergency code practices in the Delaware Valley region, assess patient and provider knowledge of codes at one hospital in that region, and patient and provider preferences for emergency code standardization and format. Anonymous electronic surveys on procedural knowledge and perspectives of emergency codes were disseminated to hospital staff and patients located at a large regional hospital. Phone interviews were conducted with hospital administration at the regional hospital and other hospitals within a 50-mile radius. The author's research indicates that standardization would be accepted by patients and providers and its lack is considered a barrier to providing high quality care.

The feedback from the staff that participated in the Full Scale Drill was overwhelmingly positive. Working and becoming acquainted with members from other supporting departments is critical to a successful evacuation. They enjoyed being a part of the drill and expressed that having ownership of an evacuation plan is vital in the care of our babies. This turned out to be a remarkable team building exercise on many levels. The planning team achieved its overall goal of creating a sense of control over a potentially chaotic environment and now believes that they could execute an evacuation for any reason with maximum protection for their patients. In a similar way various groups in and outside of the Medical Center have an understanding of the complexities of this patient group and what would be needed to effectively support their needs in a disaster. The NICU/CCN Evacuation Committee looks back over almost a year of hard work with tremendous satisfaction and renewed confidence.

In the next few years, the healthcare industry will experience rapid change, the author says. In this article, he describes how this changing healthcare landscape will provide many opportunities for the healthcare security leader willing to think about and provide security on a different scale by focusing on six key areas--mission and culture, goal alignment, value and metrics, relationships, technology, and professionalism.

Looking behind the statistics on increases in healthcare violence incidents, the author finds that these incidents directly impact a small percentage of employees. However he sees an opportunity for administrators and security professionals to use this heightened awareness to collaborate on comprehensive plans to manage workplace violence, not only to reduce the direct impact of workplace violence incidents, but also to mitigate the indirect impacts such as employee morale degradation, fear of workplace violence, and costs of workplace violence. In this article he provides the elements of an effective workplace violence management plan.

The author, who has managed both in-house and contracted security services, states unequivocally that hospitals can save money by hiring a security company, but cautions that there may be other considerations involved. In this article he provides guidance on making valid and meaningful comparisons between the two options.

One of the additional services that Security provides in the healthcare setting, should be accurate and thorough accident investigations. These can be critical in protecting your facility's interests, the authors point out. In this article, they describe in detail the accident investigation skills which are required of frontline security officers.

In this article, the author a healthcare IT expert, reveals what experts have discovered in analyzing HIPPA data breaches. Most are the result of theft or loss. She explains why this is so, and offers a solution--improved physical security.

A hospital's Security Management Plan, required by the Joint Commission, can also be used by security management professionals, the author points out, to ensure that they are continually monitoring and improving the program in a changing healthcare environment.