3 Stories You Need But May Have Missed This Week

We know you’re busy, but we don’t want you to miss important healthcare quality and patient safety news. Below is a roundup of stories you may have missed but need to take a look at before calling it a week. (Sign up on the right if you’d like these news alerts delivered to you.)

1. Who Can Speak for the Patient?
   Read this doctor’s compelling account of how a humbling near miss moved her to develop her own patient-centered checklist that aids in identifying surrogate decision-makers and avoiding potentially harmful oversights.
2. Project RED Enhancement Weaves Family into Discharge Process
   The Project RED (Re-Engineered Discharge) toolkit, developed by researchers at Boston University Medical Center, has a new component designed to help hospitals incorporate family caregivers into patient discharge plans.
3. “Just like me”
   Patient safety expert Dr. Peter Pronovost explains, in a recent blog post, that while we can’t train clinicians to “care more,” we can do a better job of tapping into care givers’ desire to be empathetic healers and comforters. By learning to recognize the human feelings we have in common with patients – worry, fear, pain, etc.  – he says we can shift our focus from completing tasks to making personal connections that build trust and ultimately improve patient experience.