The North Shore-LIJ Health System was recently awarded the Risk Management and Patient Safety Best Practices Award for 2014 by Physicians’ Reciprocal Insurers (PRI).
The award recognizes the many efforts taken at North Shore-LIJ facilities to reduce patients’ central-line infections. Many intensive care units in the health system have not had this kind of infection for more than six months.
These infections were reduced by creating a set of uniform hygiene standards and other protocols that can be consistently applied as well as by giving caregivers the tools to reduce infections, explained Donna Armellino, RN, North Shore-LIJ vice president of infection prevention. Some things that have helped reduce infections include using electronic health records; involving patients in healthcare decisions; increasing situational awareness among medical professionals and staff members and using national guidelines.
“This is a team effort by everyone at all of the facilities and it reflects North Shore-LIJ’s culture of continuous, thoughtful care,” said Mark Jarrett, MD, North Shore-LIJ senior vice president and chief quality officer.
