Sentinel Events in a Hospital

     If you are unfortunate enough to have to be a patient in a hospital for any reason, you run a risk of being a victim of some twenty- eight occurrences that should never happen. Many of these mishaps are labeled Sentinel Events. The definition of Sentinel Events as defined by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations is:

     A sentinel event is an unexpected occurrence involving death or serious physical or psychological injury, or the risk therof.

     Listed below are some examples:

• Infant Abduction 
• Wrong Site Surgery
• Suicide
• Blood Transfusion Error 
• Medication Error
• Maternal Death

     What should you do?   Check the safety ranking of your hospital. Is it Joint Commission accreditated? Or is it on the Accreditation Watchlist with deficiencies that need correction? Get informed before you enter a hospital in your community.

     How do you check?     Internet:  www.jointcommission.org  Click on Sentinel Event. Click on statistics. If necessary, submit a question.