U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay Focuses on Patient Safety

GUANTANAMO BAY (NNS) -- U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay (USNH GTMO) is recognizing National Patient Safety Awareness Week by promoting patient safety education and awareness March 4 - 10.

"The annual campaign, led by the National Patient Safety Foundation, encourages people to become involved, recognize the importance of patient safety and the range of efforts to improve health safety in the United States and worldwide," said Sandra McMurray, USNH GTMO's patient safety manager. "Throughout the week of March 4 - 10, members of the healthcare team have displays set up in the Primary Care Clinic and in other areas of the hospital, and are available to answer patient questions."

The 2012 patient awareness campaign slogan is "Be Aware for Safe Care."

The intent is to involve everyone - patients, healthcare providers, and the general public - to becoming more aware of the ways each one can participate and partner to improve patient safety efforts.

"Patient safety impacts everyone," said McMurray. "The more we work together to promote patient safety, the more we benefit from a safe healthcare system."

Infection prevention is one of the major concerns relating to patient safety. One way to alleviate the spread of infection is by hand-washing. Our healthcare providers call this the "healthcare handshake."

Throughout the week patients seen at the hospital will be given a card asking if they "received their healthcare handshake", meaning did they witness their healthcare provider wash his or her hands before and after treatment. Patients will be asked to answer the questions on the card and deposit it in one of the boxes provided for the purpose, or turn the card in at the Primary Care check-in window.

"Here at USNH GTMO we encourage patients to empower themselves and ask questions about their care, to educate themselves about their diagnosis, and know what medications they take and why," added McMurray. "Now, more than ever in healthcare, a focus on empowering patients and strengthening patient-provider communications are seen as paramount to reducing errors. We all need to Be Aware for Safe Care."


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