Risk Management Issue

Essay by sberriUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, March 2007

download word file, 6 pages 5.0 1 reviews

Describe the risk management program at your facility

Our facility is a 112-bed acute facility with a long-term care satellite facility in another building. The risk management program consists of the Director of Quality Management (DQM) who is also over the quality program. The tasks of the Risk Manager are to handle the legal issues and client issues that could potentially become a legal issue. The Risk Manager does not have a legal background but she works closely with our corporate lawyers. Although the department only consists of one person, the risk management program must have the support of all the departments within the hospital in order to be a success (Sullivan & Decker, 2005). A risk or potential risk is usually identified by the incident reporting system. Staff is educated on client safety issues to report and the Risk Manager processes these reports daily to look for trends, potential legal issues, and areas needing education or intervention.

A current risk management issue and how the incident occurred

A risk management issue that is being dealt with currently at our facility is client falls. The potential for injury occurring after a fall is an important safety issue (Poe, Cvach, Gartrell, Radzik, & Joy, 2000). When clients are found on the floor, they are immediately assessed for injuries, an incident report is filled out, and the doctor and family are notified. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that one-third of the elderly population 65 and over fall at least once a year (McCarter-Bayer, Bayer, & Hall, 2005). Client falls have a negative result on client outcomes sometimes causing discomfort, disability, and even death. Falls can also increase the length of stay for the client (Poe et al.).

This was found to be an issue in our facility when...