Wristband warnings
IVTEAM have reported before on the use of wristbands in healthcare (click here). Well, its back in the press and yes we still have a problem with the ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ wristband!
BroMenn Healthcare and St. Joseph announced Monday that the two health care organizations have collaborated on color-coded wristbands to immediately alert doctors and hospital staff to critical information about patients. Eureka Community is part of BroMenn Healthcare.
“It’s an exterior red flag to (staff) that there’s something to be aware of,” explained Mary Anne Kirchner, a registered nurse and BroMenn clinical education specialist.
A red band indicates a patient allergy, yellow identifies a patient at risk of falling, purple is a sign that the patient has a do-not-resuscitate order on file, and pink is for patients with an arm or leg that shouldn’t be used for procedures such as blood pressure checks, intravenous infusions and blood draws.
Click here for the full story.
There has been an NPSA alert about wristbands in the UK recently
Trusts will have to be compliant with barcoding of patients, notes and blood very shortly.
Im still glad Im not in the US with a purple band on!!