Health Technology Hazards, 2016: Inadequate Disinfection of Flexible Endoscopes Tops ECRI List

hazard/jasleen kaur, via Flickr hazard/jasleen kaur, via Flickr

The ECRI Institute has released its Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2016 report, highlighting health technology hazards for health care facilities and nurses to focus on this year.

Although alarm hazards, which topped the list for the past four years, still pose a significant threat, topping the list at number two, a different repeat offender has claimed the number one spot: inadequate cleaning of flexible endoscopes before disinfection.

Proper reprocessing and cleaning of biologic debris and other foreign material from instruments before sterilization is key, according to the report. And flexible endoscopes, especially duodenoscopes, are difficult to clean because of their long, narrow channels. Failure to clean properly can result in the spread of pathogens. The report points to a series of fatal carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae infections in the last two years to illustrate this particular threat, and recommends that facilities emphasize to their reprocessing staff that inattention to proper cleaning steps can lead to deadly infections.

Some hazards, such as those arising from health information technology (HIT) issues, insufficient training of clinicians in operating room technologies, and failure to appropriately operate intensive care ventilators, have been touched on in previous years. (See our past posts on ECRI top 10 health technology hazards from 2013, 2014, […]

2016-11-21T13:01:33-05:00January 14th, 2016|Nursing|3 Comments
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Health Technology Hazards, 2015: Alarm Issues Still Lead ECRI Top 10

hazard/jasleen kaur, via Flickr hazard/jasleen kaur, via Flickr

It’s a new year, and the ECRI Institute has released its Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2015 report, highlighting new health technology hazards (and some older, persistent ones) for health care facilities and nurses to keep in mind.

Alarm hazards still posed the greatest risk, topping the list at number one for the fourth year running. But this year, the report focused on different solutions. Often, according to the report, strategies for reducing alarm hazards focus on alarm fatigue—a hazard nurses have long battled. Now, the report recommends that health care facilities examine alarm configuration policies and practices for completeness and clinical relevance. These practices include:

  • determining which alarms should be enabled.
  • selecting alarm limits to use.
  • establishing the default alarm priority level.
  • setting alarm volumes.

Repeat hazards that made the list included inadequate reprocessing of endoscopes and surgical instruments (#4), robotic surgery complications due to insufficient training (#8), and, in at #2, data integrity issues such as incorrect or missing data in electronic health records and other health IT systems. For an overview of these hazards, see our posts on ECRI top 10 health technology hazards from 2013 and 2014.

And here’s an overview of new hazards that made the cut, along with some of the report’s […]

2016-11-21T13:03:15-05:00January 12th, 2015|digital health, Nursing, Technology|1 Comment
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Health Technology Hazards: ECRI’s Top 10 for 2014

hazard/jasleen kaur, via Flickr hazard/jasleen kaur, via Flickr

It’s that time of year again—the ECRI Institute has released its Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2014 report, and with it come new (and old) hazards to keep in mind.

Alarm hazards still posed the greatest risk, topping the list at number one for the third year running. Other repeat hazards included medication administration errors while using smart pumps (in at number two), inadequate reprocessing of endoscopic devices and surgical instruments (number six), and, at number eight, risks to pediatric patients associated with technologies that may have been designed for use in adults (such as radiology, oxygen concentrators, computerized provider order–entry systems, and electronic medical records). For an overview on these, see our posts from 2012 and 2013.

And here’s a snapshot of new hazards that made the cut, along with some of the report’s suggestions on how to prevent them.

Radiation exposures in pediatric patients (#3)

The risk: Although computed tomography (CT) scans are valuable diagnostic tools, they are not without risk, and children, who are more sensitive to the effects of radiation than adults, are more susceptible to its potential negative effects. According to the report, new empirical studies suggest that “diagnostic imaging at a young age can increase a person’s risk […]

2016-11-21T13:05:37-05:00January 15th, 2014|digital health, Nursing, Technology|1 Comment
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Health Technology Hazards: ECRI’s Top 10 for 2013

hazard/jasleen kaur, via Flickr hazard/jasleen kaur, via Flickr

It’s a new year and with it comes new health care technology hazards to keep in mind, as listed in the most recent ECRI Institute report, 2013 Top 10 Heath Technology Hazards. While some risks from last year’s list made a repeat appearance, a few new topics made the cut for 2013.

Alarm hazards still posed the greatest risk, topping the list at number one. Other repeat hazards included medication administration errors while using smart pumps, unnecessary radiation exposure, and surgical fires. For an overview on these, see our post from last year.

Several new opportunities for harm seemed to involve new information technology (IT) that is making its way into health care facilities, such as smartphones and mobile devices. Here’s a snapshot of several of these, and some suggestions the report gives on how to prevent them.

Patient/data mismatches in electronic health records (EHRs) and other health IT systems

The risk: One patient’s records ending up in another patient’s file may not be a new phenomenon—it happened in traditional paper-based systems as well. But newer, more powerful health IT systems have the capability to transmit mistaken data to a variety of devices and systems, multiplying the adverse effects that could result from these errors.

Some suggestions: The report suggests that when purchasing health IT systems, facilities should consider how all the connected technologies facilitate placing the right patient data into the right record. […]

2016-11-21T13:08:37-05:00January 4th, 2013|digital health, Nursing|1 Comment
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Top 10 New AJN Posts of 2012

British Nurse and Baby, via Flickr/jdlasica British Nurse and Baby, via Flickr/jdlasica

By Jacob Molyneux, AJN senior editor/blog editor

Maybe, who knows, some social media content isn’t really quite as ephemeral as we usually believe. Some of our posts seem to keep finding readers, like 2009’s “New Nurses Face Reality Shock in Hospitals–So What Else Is New?” They’re still relevant and timely, addressing as they do some of the more perennial topics in nursing.

Our 20 most-read posts for the year include several others that aren’t “new” this year: “Parting Thoughts: 10 Lessons Learned from Florence Nightingale’s Life”; “Confused About the Charge Nurse Role? You’re Not Alone”; “‘Go Home, Stay, Good Nurse’: Hospital Staffing Practices Suck the Life Out of Nurses”; “Is the Florence Nightingale Pledge in Need of a Makeover?”; “Do Male Nurses Face Reverse Sexism?”; “Fecal Impaction and Dementia: Knowing What to Look for Could Save Lives”; “Are Nursing Strikes Ethical? New Research Raises the Stakes”; and “One Take on the Top 10 Issues Facing Nursing.”

The upstarts. Putting aside posts that have shown a certain longevity, here are the top 10 new posts of 2012, according to our readers, in case you missed them along the way. Are they our best posts of 2012? We will leave that to you. Thanks to everyone who wrote, read, and commented on this blog over the past year.

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2016-11-21T13:08:45-05:00December 12th, 2012|healthcare social media|0 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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