Patient Safety and Ethics Flashcards

What is the nurse's responsibility in fall prevention for hospitalized patients?

Answer: Assess fall risk on admission (using validated tool), implement precautions (bed alarm, non-slip footwear, call light within reach), and reassess regularly

Fall prevention: assess risk on admission using Morse Fall Scale or similar, implement individualized precautions (call light accessible, bed low and locked, non-slip footwear, adequate lighting, toileting schedule), educate patient, and reassess with condition changes or after a fall.

What is a 'never event' in patient safety terminology?

Answer: A serious preventable adverse event that should never occur in a healthcare setting, such as wrong-site surgery

Never events are serious, largely preventable errors including wrong-site/wrong-patient/wrong-procedure surgery, retained foreign objects, patient falls resulting in death, and transfusion of wrong blood type. Saudi CBAHI and MOH track and mandate reporting of these events.

What is the nurse's role in infection prevention and control?

Answer: Implement standard and transmission-based precautions, perform hand hygiene, use PPE appropriately, maintain aseptic technique, and educate patients

Nurses implement: standard precautions (all patients), transmission-based precautions (contact, droplet, airborne), proper hand hygiene (5 moments), appropriate PPE selection, aseptic technique for invasive procedures, environmental cleaning, and patient/family education.

What is the proper procedure for reporting a near-miss incident in Saudi hospitals?

Answer: Report through the hospital's incident reporting system, document what happened and what prevented harm, to help identify systemic risks

Near-miss reporting is essential for patient safety improvement. Report through the hospital's electronic incident reporting system, describe the event and contributing factors, and explain what prevented patient harm. Saudi CBAHI encourages non-punitive near-miss reporting culture.

What are the nurse's legal responsibilities regarding documentation in Saudi healthcare?

Answer: Document accurately, timely, completely, using approved abbreviations, never alter records, and sign each entry

Nursing documentation must be: accurate (factual), timely (as close to real-time as possible), complete (all assessments, interventions, outcomes), legible, using only approved abbreviations, never altered/deleted (late entries are acceptable with proper notation), and signed/authenticated.

What is the nurse's role when a patient or family member requests to see their medical records?

Answer: Inform them of their right to access records and direct them to the medical records department or patient relations following hospital policy

Patients have the right to access their medical records under Saudi health regulations. The nurse should acknowledge this right, direct the patient to the proper department (medical records/patient relations), and follow hospital policy for record access procedures.