Selecting easy-to-read, antimicrobial wristbands can improve patient safety in several ways. Patient wristbands allow patients to quickly verify their information and allow medical staff to easily identify patient details. Wristbands that are durable, water and alcohol resistant help prevent the spread of infections in hospitals. Using metal-free wristbands ensures patient safety during MRI scans by eliminating potential dangers. Ensuring wristbands are replaceable means patients will not go without important identification for long periods of time.

1. USE COLOR CODING
How To
IMPROVE PATIENT SAFETY
With Quality Wristbands
MAKE THEM EASY TO READ
CONSIDER SANITATION
SELECT MRI-SAFE BANDS
MAKE REPLACEMENT EASY
Using a consistent color-coding system helps guide medical
staff when they are making quick decisions. Try these out:
Patient safety is a basic expectation in hospitals, but the country is falling far short. A study
published in the Journal of Patient Safety estimates that at least
Selecting easy-to-read wristbands and labels can
improve patient safety. Patients can more quickly
and accurately verify their personal information
when they first receive their bands. Later, medical
staff can more easily read the necessary information
on bands and have less of a chance of making a
fatal mistake.
Hospital-acquired infections are a major concern,
and patient wristbands can promote a culture of
cleanliness. Select a brand that has antimicrobial
surfaces, so they do not carry and spread germs.
Durable wristbands can resist water, alcohol, soaps
and cleaning solutions, so they do not increase risk
for infections.
Making sure patients have no metal objects on
their person is imperative before allowing them
to approach an MRI scanner for diagnostic and
monitoring scans. Having metal-free wristbands
allows radiologists and others in the radiology
department to have one less potential danger to
worry about when preparing patients for MRIs.
Patients are bound to need replacement
wristbands for any number of reasons. Making
sure they are easy to replace can improve patient
safety by ensuring that patients do not go without
wristbands for a long period of time. When
wristband labels are easy to customize, print and
apply to wristbands, patients can get their bands
back more quickly.
www.ChicagoTag.com
Red
do not resuscitate
(DNR)
Purple
allergy to latex
Blue
allergy to something
other than latex
Yellow
restricted extremity
that cause preventable harm. The estimate places medical errors as the third-leading cause
of death in the U.S. behind heart disease and cancer, and these fatalities are wholly avoidable.
210,000 and as many as 400,000
patients die each year from medical mistakes