What is World Patient Safety Day?
Every year on September 17th, World Patient Safety Day raises global awareness and sparks global unity in patient safety. The day also encourages countries around the world to highlight patient protection as a global health concern.
You may think you are safe from harm if a health-care facility is looking after you. However, this is not always the case. Patient safety is a significant health issue around the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In fact, one out of every 300 patients is harmed when receiving health care. In addition, patient harm is the 14th leading cause of global disease burden.
During hospitalizations, millions of adverse events occur each year. In low to middle-income countries, adverse events that result in unsafe care are more common. As a result of unsafe care, over 2 million people die each year. Patient harm is usually caused by an incorrect or delayed diagnosis. Patients are also vulnerable to patient harm by medication errors. Medication errors are another common cause of patient harm. Surgical mistakes are also common. According to WHO, more than one million patients die each year during or immediately after surgery.
In several ways, health care professionals can improve the safety of their patients. Here are a few of the ways you can do this include: http://www.google.com
