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Your Safety and Security
Smoking
Effective Friday, September 1, 2006, most Missouri hospitals, including St. John's
Mercy, are entirely tobacco-free, inside and out.
Smoking is strictly prohibited throughout the Medical Center buildings and campus.
Tobacco is the greatest cause of disease and premature death in America today.
Your health care team encourages you to stop smoking. If you have quit smoking,
we congratulate you on this giant step to improving your health. Information
and resources about quitting smoking are available -- ask a member of your health
care team.
Fire Drills
For your protection, the Medical Center conducts fire and disaster drills regularly.
If a drill occurs, please remain in your room and a staff member will inform
you of any necessary procedures.
Medications
All medications you take while in the Medical Center are prescribed by your physician
and dispensed by a nurse. For your safety, you may not administer your own drugs
or keep personal medications at your bedside unless directed by your physician.
Print our wallet medication card and spend a few minutes noting all medications (prescription, over the counter, herbal and nutritional) that you are currently taking. Bring this with you to the hospital. This will help ensure your healthcare providers have complete information about your medical history and current medications.
Oxygen
Special regulations are in effect when a patient is receiving oxygen. Electrically
operated equipment or aerosol products are not permitted in these areas.
Wheelchairs
Wheelchairs are available on all nursing units. However, since getting in and
out of a wheelchair without proper assistance could be hazardous, please ask
for help from a member of the Medical Center staff.
Valuables
Please do not keep valuable items such as jewelry, credit cards or large sums
of cash in your room. Please send all valuables home with your family or friends,
keeping only a dollar or two for incidentals. If you have no other option, please
call, or have your nurse call Public Safety at extension 16050 to have your valuables
picked up. A Public Safety officer will come to your room, inventory your valuables,
give you a receipt, which you must present to retrieve your valuables, and the
officer will put your valuables in safekeeping. The Medical Center accepts responsibility
only for valuables deposited with Public Safety.
The Medical Center will not accept responsibility for valuables that you choose
to keep with you in your room. All patients are encouraged to leave all valuables
at home, or send all valuables home, or deposit all valuables with Public Safety.
Notary Services
Notary services are available on a limited basis to patients who must have document(s)
notarized during the course of their admission. Call Patient Relations at extension
16484.
Lost Items
If you lose something during your stay, please notify your nurse immediately,
and he or she will make every effort to help find it. Unclaimed articles are
turned in to the Public Safety Office and kept for 30 days. For assistance, call
extension 16050.
You and Infection Control: Working Together to Prevent Infections
Hospital-acquired infections affect more than 2 million patients nationwide each
year.
Listed below are ways that you can help to prevent infections:
- Wash your hands or use an alcohol-based hand wash frequently, especially
after using the bathroom and before eating.
- Remind people caring for you to wash their hands or use an alcohol-based
hand wash before touching you.
- If you have an IV, keep the site clean and dry.
- If you have an operation, call your nurse if the bandage becomes loose
or wet.
- If you have a tube to drain urine or a wound, tell your nurse if it is
loose or comes out.
- Tell relatives and friends not to visit you if they have a cold or feel
sick.
- Tell the people taking care of you if you have been exposed to a contagious
disease recently (chickenpox, influenza, etc.).
Some illnesses require special precautions. If needed, an isolation sign will
be placed outside your room. It does not list your illness, but it tells staff
and visitors about precautions to help prevent spread of disease. If you need
these special precautions, staff may:
- Ask you to stay in your room
- Ask everyone who comes into your room to wear a gown and gloves, and maybe
a mask
- Ask you to wash your hands or use an alcohol-based hand wash and change
your gown before leaving the room.
Help Us Keep You Safe
One of our focus areas is to provide and enhance patient safety. During the
course of hospitalization, a patient may be assessed by a nurse or doctor
to be at an increased safety risk. As part of our patient safety goals,
close and constant observation may be needed.
If a patient is assessed to be at an increased safety risk, the nurse supervisor
or nurse caring for the patient will discuss with your family members what
the safety concerns are and how we can continue to provide a safe patient environment.
We may ask family members to partner with members of the health care team to
implement strategies to ensure safety of the patient. An adult relative or
friend of the patient could be asked to assist in providing close and constant
observation of the patient. The nurse will provide further guidance and instructions
to this person. The relative or friend is not being asked to provide care for
the patient, but is being asked to watch the patient and call for the nurse
as needed. St. John’s Mercy nurses will maintain responsibility in caring for
the patient.
Your care coordinator will give your family members a list of local agencies
that provide these services if they are not able to support this request for
close and constant observation. If your family hires an outside agency to provide
these services, St. John's Mercy nurses will educate the agency staff on your
safety needs prior to the start of each shift.
We invite you and/or your
family members to further partner with us to better provide your safe care
by:
- Sharing vital information
with your health care workers, i.e., medications you take, any allergies
you have, how well you get around
- Asking anyone who has
direct contact with you if he has washed his hands
- Asking all health care
workers to check your armband before giving you medication or performing
a procedure
- Speaking up if you
have questions or concerns
Correct Site Surgery
Nurses and physicians at St. John's Mercy Medical Center work together
to promote the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization's
(JCAHO)
universal protocol for correct site surgery. Prior to your surgical procedure,
multiple caregivers will ask you and your family members to restate your
name, the type of surgery you are having, and the correct site. In our
Pre-Operative
Holding Area, just prior to surgery, the nurse will once again question
you and then mark the correct surgical site with a special ink pen. As
a final
check, the surgical team, including your surgeon, the OR nurses and your
anesthesia
caregiver will take a "time out" immediately before the start of
your surgery for a final confirmation of the surgical site. At St. John's Mercy,
we encourage you and your family to be strong and effective partners in working
with physicians, nurses and other caregivers to ensure no mistakes occur in
your care.
Fall/Safety Program
The Fall/Safety Program is designed to make the hospital environment safe for
you and your family members. By initiating certain steps common to all patients,
St. John's Mercy Medical Center strives to meet your safety needs. Examples
of these steps include keeping your call light within your reach, assisting
you to the bathroom, and posting caution signs when the floor is wet. Please
notify your nurse if you:
- Have a history of falling
- Take medications that make you dizzy
- Become lightheaded during the course of your hospital stay
- Need assistance to go to the bathroom
- Become disoriented at night.
Please review the list below to see how you can take an active role in making
your environment a safer one.
- Ask for a staff member to assist you out of bed
- Don't climb over the bed rails
- Wear your glasses when you are up
- Call for assistance to go to the bathroom, walk down the hall, or get into
or out of the chair
- Notify staff members if the floor is wet
- Notify staff members if you have any safety concerns within the environment
- Please wear slippers and loose clothing when walking in your room or in
the hall.
Domestic Harmony
Supporting our patients in a safe environment, both at the Medical Center and
in your home, is of utmost importance to our mission. Domestic violence can
occur in any setting. Domestic violence is a pattern of behaviors that involves
physical or emotional abuse or the threat of physical or emotional abuse.
St. John's Mercy Medical Center recognizes domestic violence as a major health
concern. If you are in an abusive relationship, please contact Care Coordination
at extension 16094 and ask to speak to a social worker.
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