In an effort to eliminate errors and to promote patient safety, Washington state hospitals have adopted new standardized systems, according to a news release from the Washington State Hospital Association.
The objective of the new standards is to eliminate confusion that can be caused by multiple hospitals using the same terminology for different codes and procedures, especially for clinical staff that works at multiple locations.
The areas that have been standardized are emergency code calls, isolation precautions and surgical safety checklists. In addition, Washington state has adopted three standardized wristbands to communicate important patient information. The three colored bands are purple for "do not resuscitate," red for "allergies" and yellow for "high fall risk."
Read more about the new Washington safety standards (pdf).