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Latex: a lingering and lurking safety risk
Latex: a lingering and lurking safety risk
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Pennsylvania patient safety advisory
- Author(s):
- Liberatore, Kim, author
- Contributor(s):
- Pennsylvania. Patient Safety Authority, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Harrisburg, Pa.] : Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, March 2018
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Latex Hypersensitivity -- prevention & control
Medical Errors -- statistics & numerical data
Latex -- adverse effects
Latex Hypersensitivity -- epidemiology
Patient Safety
Perioperative Care
Risk Management
Urinary Catheters -- adverse effects
Humans
Pennsylvania
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- After the topic of latex allergies surfaced in the 1980s, awareness grew and risk reduction strategies were created; however, a review of events reported through the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS) questions the persistence of latex exposure protections. Pennsylvania healthcare facilities reported 616 latex-related events through PA-PSRS that occurred from 2014 through 2016, including 72 near miss events. Analysis revealed that latex indwelling urinary catheters were the most common source of inadvertent exposure in patients with documented latex allergies (75.0%, n = 408 of 544). The perioperative care area accounted for the highest number of both exposures and near misses (57.1%, n = 352 of 616). Event narratives highlight contributing factors such as deficits in communication, documentation, supply management, and staff awareness. Strategies to address these contributing factors may include screening, thoughtful handoffs, evaluation of product alternatives, assessment of staff awareness, and observation of practice patterns.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (12 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101735814 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101735814