ATD Talent Development and Training in Healthcare Handbook

CHAPTER 25

PATIENT SAFETY

BEN LOCWIN

Whether care is delivered in-patient, out-patient, or even managed at a distance via telemedicine or with pharmaceuticals or medical devices, there is no more important healthcare objective than patient safety. As the Hippocratic Oath states, “Primum Non Nocere,” or “[Of] first [importance], do no harm.”

We’re never more vulnerable than when we’re being taken care of as patient at a healthcare facility. We give up much of what it means to be a healthy and independent member of society when we’re under acute medical care: losing our freedom of activity (ability to engage in our normal behaviors), being confined to a situation that’s often stressful and fear-promoting, and having to make decisions under duress ...