This is an active call light -an active light will also beep to alert staff that a patient has need of assistance.

Platte Valley, as we know, is committed to a higher level of patient care. This includes a commitment to answering every patient call light as soon as possible, even when it requires collaboration between clinical and non-clinical staff to make sure no call light goes unanswered.

Clinical Staff

When the patient is admitted to the unit, the admitting or primary nurse should familiarize the patient with their room, including the use of the phone and call light. Make sure to have the patient “teach back” call light and phone use to be sure they understand. Place the call light and phone within the patient’s safe reach.

At the beginning of a shift, nursing staff must document on the patient’s white board, the name of the primary nurse and nursing assistant, and their respective phone numbers within 30 minutes of start of shift.

All Staff

When patients call light goes on, any staff member (e.g. RN, CNA, Secretary, Case Manager, Housekeeping, Lab Tech,  ect.) in the vicinity should enter the room and ask the patient what they need. We do not want patients to wait longer than 2 minutes for their call light to be answered.

Ancillary staff are not expected to enter isolation rooms – communication from the doorway is acceptable.

If you are a non-clinical associate and the patient needs care that is not within your skills to provide, immediately contact the primary nurse or charge nurse in person or by phone.

Next, make sure to inform the patient that their nurse/nursing assistant has been contacted and will assist them as soon as possible. Finally, make sure to cancel the call light in the patient’s room.

If the patient needs care that you can provide, cancel the call light and assist the patient with their need.

Find this panel at the head of each patient bed on the wall. Push the yellow CANC button ONLY.
Please avoid pushing the Blue CODE button unless the patient is unresponsive.

If you see a call light on, you CAN do the following for a patient:

• Reposition call light, telephone, bedside table, chairs, trash can, tissues or other personal items within reach.
• Assist with making phone calls or answering the telephone.
• Change TV channels or turn the TV on or off.
• Turn lights on or off.
• Obtain personal items such as blanket, pillow, towel, washcloth, slippers, and toiletries.
• Obtain other items such as pens, pencils, books, magazines, etc.
• Open and/or close privacy curtains.
• Reduce clutter.
• If the call light is for an isolation room and you have not been trained in appropriate PPE, communicate from the door that you are getting them assistance

Only Nursing Staff Can:

• Manage an IV and/or infusion pump
• Offer pain relief
• Remove meal trays or water pitchers
• Assist patients with eating and drinking
• Physically assist a patient
• Turn off any alarms
• Explain clinical matters/treatments as appropriate to your discipline
• Raise or lower a patient bed

This script can help you ease the patient’s mind if you CANNOT assist:

“Let me find the appropriate person to help you. I will let you know how long it will take.”

Platte Valley is committed to safely delivering care and eliminating harm for patients and associates.  In fact, the entire SCL Health System wants to increase patient safety – that’s why all care sites in the system are working to become High Reliability Organizations (HRO).  What does that mean?

Accidents sometimes occur in hospitals because our work is risky and complex.  HRO’s are organizations that have succeeded in avoiding accidents and catastrophes despite their high-risk environments. To reach our goal of becoming one of these organizations, everyone who works here will need to be involved and trained on how and why errors occur. We’ll also need to adopt safety behaviors that will improve our safety culture.

To help you learn these skills, a Healthstream assignment sent via e-mail will allow you to register for a two hour training course.  Almost two dozen HRO training courses are scheduled at various times and on multiple days in our conference center over the next 5 months.  Every PVMC hospital associate is required, and compensated, to attend one training session. The number of seats are limited by the size of our conference rooms so register for your preferred session as soon as possible and no later than August 31, 2018. Sign up to learn more about your role in making PVMC an HRO!

For questions please contact Patient Safety Manager Colleen Casaceli at 303-498-1553.

Platte Valley is committed to safely delivering care and eliminating harm for patients and associates.  In fact, the entire SCL Health System wants to increase patient safety – that’s why all care sites in the system are working to become High Reliability Organizations (HRO).  What does that mean?

Accidents sometimes occur in hospitals because our work is risky and complex.  HRO’s are organizations that have succeeded in avoiding accidents and catastrophes despite their high-risk environments. To reach our goal of becoming one of these organizations, everyone who works here will need to be involved and trained on how and why errors occur. We’ll also need to adopt safety behaviors that will improve our safety culture.

To help you learn these skills, a Healthstream assignment sent via e-mail will allow you to register for a two hour training course.  Almost two dozen HRO training courses are scheduled at various times and on multiple days in our conference center over the next 5 months.  Every PVMC hospital associate is required, and compensated, to attend one training session. The number of seats are limited by the size of our conference rooms so register for your preferred session as soon as possible and no later than August 31, 2018. Sign up to learn more about your role in making PVMC an HRO!

For questions please contact Patient Safety Manager Colleen Casaceli at 303-498-1553.

January’s Safety Behavior of the Month is a process many of us are already using, it’s SBAR! That’s great! However, it’s always a good idea to refresh our knowledge, especially when it’s information about how to keep our patients safe. So here’s a little reminder of what SBAR means and why we practice it:

Handoffs of information are risky for patients and associates and require complete and accurate communication to avoid errors. A handoff is intended to share situational awareness, a mental model of what is going on with a patient or a situation.
SBAR is an acronym that helps us remember specific types of information that should be communicated. Each letter stands for a type of information that is important to communicate in a handoff. The best information to emphasize is what is different or unusual about that patient or situation. If one does not emphasize what is different or unusual, the receiver will assume what is typical and usual. This assumption often results in judgments made based on incorrect information.

Situation – What is the problem, patient, or project? Who or what you’re calling about, the immediate problem, your concerns.
Background – What is the relevant information? Review of pertinent information, procedure, patient condition.
Assessment – What is your current read of the problem or patient? Your view of the situation now: “I think the problem is…” or “I’m not sure what the problem is.”
Recommendation – What is your request or recommendation? Urgency of action: “I feel that someone needs to come to the bedside to see the patient.”

If you would like to download and print a flyer about SBAR for your breakroom or communication board, click here.