Email this page- Choose Us
- Commitment to Quality
- Quality Measures
- Stroke
- Overview
- Around-the-clock brain imaging
- Around-the-clock radiologist available to interpret brain imaging studies
- Stroke disease management program: Availability and type
- Use of tPA for stroke
- Board certification of neurologists
- Patient and community education
- Inpatient mortality for stroke patients
- Average length of stay for stroke patients
- Comprehensive stroke center
- Stroke rehabilitation program
- Aspirin administration within 48 hours from onset of stroke
- Antithrombotic medication prescribed at discharge for stroke patients
- Vascular neurologist availability
- Stroke
- Glossary of Terms
Strong Safety and Quality of Care for Stroke
Reducing Medication Errors
The Strong Stroke Center takes advantage of a hospital-wide effort to reduce medication errors by implementing safety checks at the points that medications are prescribed, dispensed, and administered. For example, a computerized order entry system (CPOE) has eliminated the need for handwritten prescriptions. The system also screens medication orders for potential dosing errors, interactions, allergies, and much more. These safety measures are further backed up by robotic dispensing systems in the hospital’s pharmacy, which ensure that the correct medications are being delivered to patient care units. In addition, all of Strong’s intravenous medication pumps use smart-pump technology, which checks the type and dosage of a drug just before it is administered to a patient.
Falls
An initiative led by the Strong Stroke Center nursing staff is helping to reduce falls among stroke patients. Special beds, which are either lower to the ground or equipped with a canopy that gently confines patients to beds without using restraints, have been installed in the Stroke Center. The use of bed alarms, which alert staff when a patient has gotten out of bed, is reinforced with signage outside the patient’s room. Similar signs remind staff not to leave the patient alone in the bathroom. In addition, at regular intervals throughout the day and night, staff checks in on all patients to ensure that patients are safe in their rooms. A recent survey by nursing staff shows that such actions have helped to decrease the rate of falls, and a follow-up study continues to monitor progress.
Deep-Vein Thrombosis
Stroke patients are particularly at high risk for developing blood clots (thrombosis), and as a result, the Strong Stroke Center has implemented an aggressive preventive program to stop this complication from occurring. All patients are encouraged to walk whenever possible, compression stockings are used, and blood thinning drugs are administered as a preventive measure. Today, more than 90% of patients are successfully placed on this new protocol. Our experience in this area is proving valuable, as we lead a multi-hospital sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement on this very topic.
