Patient Safety Awareness Week is organized with the aim to sensitize and encourage everyone to learn more about healthcare safety. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines patient safety as “the absence of preventable harm to a patient during the process of health care and reduction in risk of unnecessary harm associated with health care to an acceptable minimum”. According to the World Health Organization (2019) each year, 134 million adverse events occur in hospitals in low- and middle-income countries, due to unsafe care, resulting in 2.6 million deaths. They also note that globally, as many as 4 in 10 patients are harmed in primary and outpatient health care. The most detrimental errors are related to diagnosis, prescription, and the use of medicines.
College of Nursing, GMU took an active part in the Patient Safety awareness week arranged by the Nursing Department of Thumbay University Hospital. The theme for the year 2023 is “Together we are Better, Stronger, Safer” and it emphasized two crucial concerns: safety culture and patient engagement. The International Patient Safety Goals aim to enhance patient safety in six areas, including Patient Identification, Effective Communication Practices, High Alert Medications, Safe Surgery, Prevention of Infection, and Fall Prevention. Each of these areas was given individual attention by celebrating them on separate days during the awareness week.
The students took part in the awareness week by engaging in activities such as poster presentations, participating in role plays and quizzes. In the ‘Error Room’ activity, simulation designed to highlight mistakes related to medication, Mr. Saif Omar Kiatz, a second-year BSN student, successfully identified all the major errors and was awarded first prize. It was a learning for the students and a reminder reiteration for all the healthcare workers.
