Federal report finds serious flaws at Children's Hospital
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http://www.komonews.com/news/problemsolvers/121422204.html
SEATTLE -- A federal investigation of Seattle Children's Hospital found serious flaws that could have led to the hospital losing its Medicaid certification.
The federal report found several serious problems with the hospital ground transport program, getting critically ill babies and children from one hospital to Children's for advanced care. That was one of four serious medication errors uncovered last fall.
The report goes on to say Children's transport teams need better training, supervision and quality control. And the lack of those "placed all patients who received transport services at risk..."
This investigation began after several medication error cases first reported by the KOMO 4 Problem Solvers -- and the hospital acknowledged - last fall.
One case involved a Children's team preparing to move a critically ill baby from a different hospital to Children's. A transport nurse gave the baby three medications, including morphine and a paralytic, without a doctor's order and then told the other hospital's neonatalogist that "it's within my power to give these meds."
The report says the doctor "was shocked" and questioned the nurse. Later that doctor told investigators they always try to use a different transport team because the Children's "team is just not as professional."
The King County Medical Examiner later ruled that baby died of natural causes. But the federal report found in all 12 of the cases it reviewed, none had authenticated doctor's orders.
Since the investigation, Children's has launched hospital wide re-training and used outside experts to review the hospital's practices. In a written statement, Children's CEO Dr. Thomas Hansen said, "providing the highest quality, safest possible care is of the utmost importance to everyone at Seattle Children's. There is always room for improvement. That's why our work to provide error-free care will never end."
The state is still investigating two nurses from Children's. One is the nurse mentioned above with the transport team, the other is a nurse in Children's emergency room who incorrectly administered epinephrine to a patient, creating a cardiac emergency.
http://www.komonews.com/news/problemsolvers/121422204.html
SEATTLE -- A federal investigation of Seattle Children's Hospital found serious flaws that could have led to the hospital losing its Medicaid certification.
The federal report found several serious problems with the hospital ground transport program, getting critically ill babies and children from one hospital to Children's for advanced care. That was one of four serious medication errors uncovered last fall.
The report goes on to say Children's transport teams need better training, supervision and quality control. And the lack of those "placed all patients who received transport services at risk..."
This investigation began after several medication error cases first reported by the KOMO 4 Problem Solvers -- and the hospital acknowledged - last fall.
One case involved a Children's team preparing to move a critically ill baby from a different hospital to Children's. A transport nurse gave the baby three medications, including morphine and a paralytic, without a doctor's order and then told the other hospital's neonatalogist that "it's within my power to give these meds."
The report says the doctor "was shocked" and questioned the nurse. Later that doctor told investigators they always try to use a different transport team because the Children's "team is just not as professional."
The King County Medical Examiner later ruled that baby died of natural causes. But the federal report found in all 12 of the cases it reviewed, none had authenticated doctor's orders.
Since the investigation, Children's has launched hospital wide re-training and used outside experts to review the hospital's practices. In a written statement, Children's CEO Dr. Thomas Hansen said, "providing the highest quality, safest possible care is of the utmost importance to everyone at Seattle Children's. There is always room for improvement. That's why our work to provide error-free care will never end."
The state is still investigating two nurses from Children's. One is the nurse mentioned above with the transport team, the other is a nurse in Children's emergency room who incorrectly administered epinephrine to a patient, creating a cardiac emergency.