Celebrating 2020 Patient Safety Stars

Usually during the annual Patient Safety Awareness Week in March, the hospital celebrates its Patient Safety Stars for going above and beyond the call of duty to provide a safer care environment for patients, visitors and staff. However, 2020 has been anything but usual. Although the COVID-19 pandemic made an in-person celebration impossible, this year’s recipients will be recognized in upcoming editions of Mass General Hotline.

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Aliesha Bennett, RN, Allergy and Immunology

During a regular allergy clinic injection, a patient being treated by Aliesha Bennett, RN, of Mass General's Allergy & Clinical Immunology Unit, showed symptoms indicating a brain hemorrhage. Immediately, Bennett intervened and sent the patient to the Emergency Department. She was taken to the Operating Room for a craniotomy. Bennett’s ability to recognize symptoms, act quickly and get the patient timely access to care helped save the life of the patient, who continues to receive regular allergy injections and continues to tell the story of Bennett’s actions.

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Perioperative Pharmacists Role In Intraoperative Resuscitation

Responding to emergencies in the Operating Room can be stressful and chaotic. Adam Dalia, MD, and Chris Aiudi, MD, both in Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, and Jevon Oliver, PharmD, MS, manager, Perioperative Pharmacy Services, identified an opportunity to improve the response to emergencies by adding a pharmacist to the response team to assist in securing and documenting medications given during the emergency. The project evolved into a comprehensive study of emergency response in the operating room with the goal of streamlining response and identifying roles to reduce confusion during these challenging situations.

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PICU Evidence Based Practice Committee

Medication safety for our pediatric patients is of utmost importance due to their vulnerability. The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Practice Committee defined a team goal: To consistently flush all intravenous medication lines to ensure entire intended doses are given. The team recognized if a medication in a bag is not flushed, or if it is given through a primary line, the patient will not receive the correct dose, leaving approximately 20cc of medication in the line. Also, frequent connection and disconnection from central lines for intermittent medication can be a source of infection. With a designated medication line, this can be avoided. The practice was changed, and education provided by this committee helped institute this new practice.