The Importance of Fire Safety Training in the Healthcare Industry

 

The healthcare industry bears the onus of taking care of people’s health and life. It needs to ensure that the patients dependent upon it for their well-being are safe and away from all sorts of risks and dangers when they are on the premises of a healthcare organisation, including fire. While fire safety is important for all buildings, it is even more crucial for hospitals, nursing homes, diagnostic centres and other such complexes since patients in critical condition may be vulnerable and unable to take care of themselves in the case of fire. 

Why is fire safety training crucial for healthcare organisations? 

Nowadays, many people are aware of the safety measures that should be taken in case of an emergency. However, patients admitted to healthcare organisations may be unable to take those safety measures as: 

• They may be unaware of their surroundings 

• They may have mobility issues 

• They may not know what to do in case of emergency 

• They may be dependent upon a ventilator machine 

• They may be unconscious 

• They may not be old enough to understand the situation 

Therefore, a fire accident at a healthcare organisation can pose danger to the lives of a high number of people. 

Additionally, hospitals may house chemicals, combustible substances, oxygen cylinders, a kitchen or canteen, etc., all of which can lead to fire outbreaks and allow the fire to spread quickly. This makes fire safety training all the more important for healthcare organisations. 

How can healthcare facilities achieve fire safety? 

1. Kitchens, canteens and laboratories should be monitored and not left unattended. Flammable liquids, like oils, and stove fuel should be stored well and regularly checked for any leakage. All the electrical cords in such areas should be specially checked for tears or frays. Extra portable fire extinguishers should be placed in such high-risk zones. 

2. In addition to the electrical wires of the kitchen and lab, all the other electrical outlets and cords should be regularly checked. It should be ensured that all the cords and wires are away from flammable materials. 

3. The complete staff, irrespective of their job role, should be trained well so that they are aware of safety procedures. Organisations like CAHO (the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organisations) offer certification programmes for fire safety training for hospital staff. So, healthcare organisations should get their staff enrolled in such recognised courses and conduct mock drills to stay fully prepared. 

4. Fire extinguishers’ location and condition should be checked regularly so that the faulty ones can be replaced in time. The volume of their content should also be checked to stay prepared at the time of emergency. 

5. An action plan that includes the instructions for evacuation should be in place and the staff should be familiar with this action plan. 

6. Regular meetings, vigilance monitoring and fire safety audit should be conducted to check whether the organisation can deal with a fire accident. 

Conclusion 

To ensure the complete health, safety and well-being of its patients, visitors and staff, healthcare organisations must keep in mind the above-mentioned points. Recognised courses, such as fire safety training for hospital staff, offered by CAHO can help the healthcare industry to achieve fire safety. 

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Why Master the Art of Communication for Safer Patient Care?

 Healthcare organisations across the world have one priority that supersedes everything else: top-notch patient care. But providing proper care means becoming a better speaker and listener, towards the patients, their family and colleagues. Implementing a proper communication channel is one of the critical components in the patient care process. For the professionals that are responsible for a patient’s health, whether it is the doctor sharing information in-house with other specialists or staff exchanging medical reports with another facility, effective communication is critical. 

A strong communication policy plays a great role in enriching a patient’s health while ensuring smooth operation for the organisation. Even a minor mistake or delay in communication can put the patient at a risk. Effective communication of information can empower patients and demonstrate the organisation’s commitment to safety and better outcomes. Below are some areas where mastering communication skills can ensure safer patient care experience:

Building a Rapport

An imperative skill for every medical professional, it is important to shape the relationship with patients. During treatments, the patient needs to trust their doctors and nurses, and that can only be done when a bit of time is taken to establish a bond.

Encouraging Questions

Patients ask a variety of questions while they are being admitted, and understandably so, they have to undergo various tests, treatments and sometimes even surgical operations. Hence, encourage them to ask questions and give them straight & encouraging answers to build trust. Even the professionals should ask questions that explain the health and habits of the patients, which can lead to more personalised care. 

Sharing Research 

As an industry that is heavily reliant on research, the improvement in healthcare has been one of the biggest success stories of mankind. By sharing research with other organisations and labs, the healthcare industry has been able to evolve medicines, tools and even surgical procedures. Creating a communication and collaboration channel with other healthcare organisations can greatly enhance patient care across the country. 

The above methods are just a few dependable communication skills for the healthcare professionals, but a lot more needs to be done. The Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations or CAHO is an eminent body that regulates healthcare organisations and offers various workshops. They provide various training programmes such as nursing training programmes, hospital training programmes, infection control nurse course, etc. Taking up and providing such the communication course will be the boon that will drive your medical organisation forward.

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The Importance of a Fire Safety Plan for Hospitals

When it comes to designing a healthcare facility such as hospitals and clinics, ensuring protection against fire comes high on the priority list. Unlike a shopping mall or a residential area, healthcare organisations are filled with sick, disabled or elderly patients, making fire safety a high-pressure component of healthcare organisations. 

In a building filled with immuno-compromised people or ones who are incapable of moving without support, it falls on the shoulder of the staff to ensure their safety and evacuation from the hospital. Though most healthcare facilities are designed keeping in mind the relevant codes, fire safety training for hospital staff can make them skilled in handling such situations. As the ones responsible for the safety and security of people inside the hospital, the staff should be trained in easy and efficient fire safety methods. Here are a few measures and approaches that healthcare organisations can utilise for creating an effective fire safety plan:

Detailed Action Plan

A calamity like fire accident leaves no room for thinking. That is why a detailed action plan can help answer all the questions and ensure instant reaction in the right manner. While creating an exhaustive action plan, different departments of the organisation must be looped in to cover all the bases in the best manner possible. 

Creating a Fire Safety Team

Every healthcare organisation needs to have a fire safety team that is involved in the planning of a safety and evacuation plan. This is the team that ensures smooth communication during any accident and works to reduce the damage caused by fire. There should be a proper communication channel established between the management and the fire safety team to keep the damage of fire to a minimum. 

Evacuation Aids

Evacuating a hospital during a fire can be quite difficult, hence, it falls on the staff to be adept with evacuation aids to help. Whether it’s evacuation mats and sheet, LED strips guiding to exit doors or fire fighting equipment, every hospital should be equipped with evacuation aids. 

Mock Drills for Staff

The nursing staff plays a huge role in protecting the patients during such a calamity. By undergoing fire safety programmes and making them participate in mock drills, organisations can create a reliable team for establishing a secure atmosphere. Hospitals can contact Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations or CAHO, which is an eminent body that provides various training programmes such as the fire safety training for hospital staff, hospital training programmes, and healthcare quality certification courses in India.

In a healthcare organisation, fire safety requires excessive vigilance and monitoring by the staff. Ensuring these steps are followed will make the difference between life and death for a huge number of people in case disaster ever strikes out. 

 

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The Guide to Becoming an Infection Control Nurse

Even in a sterilised and sanitary environment, a rogue infection can spread quickly and get out of hand. Though it depends on the type of infection and the area which has been infected, if left unchecked, people can become seriously ill and even die. As seen in the current pandemic of Covid-19, it can even transverse state and country boundaries, affecting people all over the world. That is why Infection Control Nurses are important for a healthcare organisation. They are the ones who are trained to prevent dangerous infectious diseases from spreading. 

Infection control nurses are extremely important for an organisation, as their job is to ensure precautions are taken to prevent the virus or bacteria from spreading. Even a small mistake can lead to the infectious agent to spread from a patient to a healthy individual, hence, they play a huge role in containing outbreaks and epidemic. To understand the scope of an infection control nurse, here are the answers to some of the frequently asked questions:

What do Infection Control Nurses do?

The main duty of an infection control nurse is preventing the spread of an infectious agent that can harm society. To do so, they often educate other medical professionals and civilians on the techniques to prevent the spread and protect themselves as well as others from contamination. They also might study the structure of pathogens and viruses in order to determine the best ways to contain or prevent the infection. In the event of an outbreak, they are the ones who isolate infected patients and take steps to contain the infection. 

Where do Infection Control Nurses Work?

There is no special difference between an infection control nurse and other nurses. The only difference is that the former opt for specialised infection control nurse course. Other than that, they work in similar medical facilities, such as hospitals and clinics. They can even become part of government agencies that raise awareness about different infections and their prevention. 

How to become an Infection Control Nurse?

For becoming an infection control nurse, all you have to do is obtain some experience in the nursing field, and then take up a course that will help you secure a specialised position. 

A good option is to check out the infection control nurse course offered by the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organisations (CAHO), which is a recognised non-profit organisation that aims to improve healthcare quality. With programmes such as fire safety training for hospital staff, basic nursing communication, cybersecurity in hospital, etc., they work to improve the quality and safety of healthcare services provided by the HCOs across the country. 

 

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Tips to Enhance Communication Skills of Healthcare Professionals

Being a healthcare professional is not just about curing patients’ ailments. It also involves being compassionate and ensuring smooth communication with them. The modern-day healthcare sector needs to be transparent in all its functionalities and in ways of treating and interacting with patients. 

The standard of care demanded by patients requires you to effectively communicate with them as well as other members of the healthcare team. 

In simpler words,  soft skills like understanding the patient while you encounter them in the waiting room, the examination room, on the telephone, or through email. You should also know how to work efficiently and productively as a member of the healthcare team to ensure the highest level of effectiveness in serving the patients’ needs.  

Various regulatory bodies like the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organisations recognise the importance of possessing soft skills by healthcare professionals. They conduct various training sessions and workshops to enhance the communication skills for healthcare professionals. Apart from this, other coaching sessions like nurse training programmes, patient care training programme, and fire safety training for hospital staff. If you are a healthcare professional and looking to hone your communication skills then here are some tips for you, have a look! 

Incorporate active listening:

Allow your patients to share their thoughts and feelings as this will provide you with valuable information regarding their lifestyles and other medical histories while making them comfortable. Watch out for your body language while listening to them as non-verbal communication plays a major role in the patient-provider relationship. 

Maintain eye contact:

Maintaining eye contact, nodding appropriately, and empathizing with your patients or their relatives are signs of active interaction. On the other hand, looking around, looking at your watch, making faces or noises are signs that you are not listening and are disinterested in what your patients have to say.

Be accountable:

In case your communication goes wrong, take the responsibility and make sure that you don’t blame your patient even if you feel that you are right. Try to discuss the issue politely and learn to be responsible for your mistakes. The whole idea behind this is to make you analyse your mistakes and eventually learn from them, improving your work in the long-run.

Honesty is the best policy:

Patients always rely on healthcare providers for knowing everything regarding their treatment, diseases and other related information. Be honest while conveying the same. Make sure that you do not hide any data from your patients.

The highest reasons for complaints from the patients is poor communication amid them and healthcare providers. Hence, the need for enhancing communication skills for the healthcare professional is highly important. By using the aforementioned tips, you will be able to master soft skills in no time.

 

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What it is to be an Infection Control Nurse?

One of the significant problems the healthcare providers face is that of infections, also known as nosocomial infections, prevailing in the healthcare setting. Though all the medical professionals are trained to take precautions, yet the possibility of the infections can not be completely eliminated. This has induced the need to introduce a separate course of instruction like Infection Control Nurse Course to prevent the occurrence of dangerous outbreaks in hospitals. While all the nurses are trained to stop the infectious diseases to spread, the nurses who specifically enroll for infection control nurses are coached to avert the spread of infectious agents like virus and bacteria.

After taking up the Infection Control Course, nurses will be able to perform the following tasks:

lAnalysing, recognising and then educating about the causes and impacts of infectious diseases while serving

as an infection control consultant for the healthcare setting and entire community.

lCreating strategies, action-plans on how to prevent infectious ailments to affect the patients and their

attendants, while ensuring smooth implementation of infection control practices according to the set

standards.

lIn case of confirmation of any infectious disease, gathering necessary resources that will help in its cure.

lGuiding the family members of the patients infected with HIV, AIDS, TB, nosocomial infections etc. on

precautions and steps to be taken for the patient’s as well as their health.

lActing as a coordinator or leader of an Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Programme.

lEnsuring smooth implementation of infection control practices according to the set standards.

Eligibilty :

Following are the prerequisites for a Nurse aspiring to obtain certification in Infection Control Course:

lHaving license and registration as a nurse or nurse practitioner

lCurrently working in a medical setting

lKeeping infection control and prevention in the priority list of responsibilities

lMedical experience should include active participation in investigation and surveillance of suspected outbreaks

lCollecting, analysing and interpreting infection outcome data.

As per the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, around 1 in 20 patients are likely to be affected with nosocomial infections. For this reason, various healthcare organisations are also endevaouring to maintain the safety and care standards for the patients as well as the healthcare providers. Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Professionals (CAHO), is one such recognised not-for-profit organisation that strongly believes in continuously promoting, improving and sharing best healthcare practices across platforms. Apart from infection control nurse course, CAHO hosts various healthcare training programmes like fire safety training for hospital staff, basic nursing communication training, cyber security training and others for the hospital staff and much more. You can visit their website to know more!

 

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