Wolters Kluwer Health: Nurses Are Key to Mitigating 'Sentinel Events'

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry, today added a new component to Lippincott Advisor that addresses Sentinel Events and is designed to help nurses step-up their role in helping to reduce incidence of these adverse patient outcomes in hospitals and other institutions.  This new feature provides a comprehensive decision-support resource that details what nurses and clinicians caring for patients at the bedside can do when a Sentinel Event occurs.

Defined by the Joint Commission as "an unexpected occurrence involving death or serious physical or psychological injury or the risk thereof" that occurs in a hospital or other healthcare facility, a Sentinel Event "signals the need for immediate investigation."  Since 2004, the Joint Commission reports it has investigated nearly 8,000 Sentinel Events including 887 in 2013 alone.  In addition, other key industry organizations and programs including the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program require tracking and trending of Sentinel Events.

Patient safety is of paramount concern to hospitals and other healthcare facilities, and to the Joint Commission, which considers reduction of Sentinel Events one of its highest priorities.  To this end, Wolters Kluwer Health saw an opportunity to help nurses address this issue by utilizing Lippincott Advisor as a way to deliver easy, online access to a comprehensive set of information devoted to Sentinel Events.  Lippincott Advisor is one of the most widely deployed clinical decision-support solutions designed for point-of-care usage by nurses and other clinicians.

"We are committed to the idea that nurses can play a key role in mitigating Sentinel Events if they have more information about what they should do when an event occurs," said Judith McCann, MSN, RN, Chief Nurse, Wolters Kluwer Health, Professional & Education.  "Not all Sentinel Events are preventable but nurses who know the warning signs are able to better manage risk for the patient and, if an event occurs, know the actions they need to take to ensure the patient receives evidence-based, quality care."

The new section provides links to 16 sentinel event categories as defined by the Joint Commission including Fall-related Events, Infection-related Events, Operative/Postoperative Events, Medication Errors, and Delayed Treatments.  Each category provides a definition of the Sentinel Event, a list of common causes and risk factors, and a section called "What the Nurse Should Do," which provides detailed analysis of steps and actions a nurse can take for a variety of different conditions and scenarios.  The product also has a detailed reference section for each category.

Lippincott Advisor is the leading online clinical decision-support solution in use at the bedside.  The product includes more than 10,000 collective entries of critical, evidence-based information spanning diseases & treatments, diagnostic tests, drugs, signs & symptoms, nursing care plans, patient education, Core Measures, hospital-acquired conditions, national guidelines and Sentinel Events.  Using a proprietary synoptic search, Lippincott Advisor provides immediate, evidence-based answers to clinicians' most pressing health information questions.

Lippincott Advisor, part of the Lippincott Solutions suite, is available as a group subscription to hospitals and other healthcare facilities.  The product is accessible from any Internet-enabled device, including PCs and mobile devices such as iPad and Android tablets.  For more information or to purchase, call 855-695-5070 or visit LippincottSolutions.com, and follow Lippincott Solutions on Twitter @NurseSolutions.

About Wolters Kluwer Health
Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading global provider of information, business intelligence and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry. Serving more than 150 countries worldwide, clinicians rely on Wolters Kluwer Health's market leading information-enabled tools and software solutions throughout their professional careers from training to research to practice. Major brands include Health Language^®, Lexicomp^®, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Medicom^®, Medi-Span^®, Medknow, Ovid^®, Pharmacy OneSource^®, ProVation^® Medical and UpToDate^®.

Wolters Kluwer Health is part of Wolters Kluwer, a market-leading global information services company. Wolters Kluwer had 2013 annual revenues of €3.6 billion ($4.7 billion), employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide, and maintains operations in over 40 countries across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Its shares are quoted on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY).

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SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Health