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The safety of the patients in our care and
treatment is an important goal during all healthcare encounters.
Early studies in the 1960s already pointed to healthcare related
errors as a problem for healthcare consumers. However, it
was the startling report in 1999, from the Institute of Medicine
(IOM) To Err is Human, that served as a wake-up call
for healthcare professionals, multiple public and private
healthcare and healthcare-related organizations, state legislatures
and the federal government. The IOM report estimated that
between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths annually are a result of
medical errors; more than half of the adverse medical events
occurring each year are due to preventable medical
errors, causing the death of tens of thousands. The cost associated
with these errors in lost income, disability, and healthcare
costs is as much as $29 billion annually.
In a study on hospital pneumonia rates and
sepsis rates (Eber, et. al , 2010), researchers looked at
data from 59 million discharges, covering 40 of the 50 US
states between 1998 and 2006. Patients who developed sepsis
after surgery had to stay in the hospital on average nearly
11 days extra, at a cost of $32,900 per patient. Just under
20% of these patients died. Pneumonia patients stayed in the
hospital an extra 14 days after surgery, at a cost of $46,400,
and more than 11% of those patients died.
In the State of Florida, registered nurses
and licensed practical nurses must complete 2 hours of continuing
education related to the Prevention of Medical Errors in each
2-year licensure renewal period. Access Continuing Education,
Inc. is a Florida-approved provider of continuing education
for nurses, provider # 50-7628. Successfully completing this
course will meet the Florida Board of Nursing requirement.
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