A Culture of Safety

A culture of safety promotes communication, teamwork and patient-focused care. The term is used to describe an environment that encourages communication with the patient, or the patient's family, of medical errors or unanticipated adverse events. There is also a commitment by the hospital to investigate such events to determine an understanding of what happened and to determine steps needed for implementation to prevent a similar event from happening in the future.

The road to patient safety is long and complicated. The driving priority is to prevent harm to patients. We have a Patient Safety Committee with a goal to oversee the reduction and elimination of errors and to improve provider and facility safety practices. We are striving to develop a work culture in which staff will communicate patient safety issues freely.

At Marian Community Hospital, we believe that improving the safety of patient care is a high priority for all staff and administration.

Marian Community Hospital Partners with Blue Cross of NEPA In Patient Safety Initiative

Marian Community Hospital recently was awarded grant funds in the amount of $250,000 from Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania for a Patient Safety Initiative. The project to be implemented is the Pyxis MedStation System 3000, an automated medication dispensing system by Cardinal.
“Patient Safety, when providing quality care to patients, is always our goal,” said Mrs. Jean Deecki, Patient Safety Officer at Marian Community Hospital. “Marian Community’s ability to prevent medication errors is important to patients and their families, employees and physicians. This technology will greatly improve the medication delivery process because it provides double-checks to help enhance safety for medication delivery to patients.”

The system will track medication delivery times and dosage information for each patient. With the implementation of an automated system, the delivery of medications becomes a safer process. Each patient’s medication orders are sent to the Pharmacy via a scanning device which provides a clear image of the order. After a review of the physician’s order, the Pharmacy provides a profile for each patient which is communicated to the automated cabinet which contains all of the patient’s medications. The nurse selects the patient’s medications through a pass code and fingerprint scan which only gives them access to the appropriate medication for the patient. Using this system, delivery of medications becomes safer for the patient because it streamlines the workflow and reduces the probability of human error.
Marian Community Hospital continues to provide for the changing needs of the people of Carbondale and the surrounding communities of upper Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wayne Counties. By investing in new technology such as the automated medication dispensing system mentioned above, Marian Community Hospital is able to reduce the likelihood of error.