A new mechanical ventilation toolkit that benefited from AARC involvement is now available.
The Toolkit To Improve Safety for Mechanically Ventilated Patients includes four modules designed to assist ICUs in implementing the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP), an innovative safety and quality intervention designed to help teams identify and learn from defects, improve safety culture, and improve teamwork and communication.
The kit is the end result of a three year AHRQ Safety Program for Mechanically Ventilated Patients project in which hospitals that did implement CUSP were compared to those that did not. Results showed significant improvements in hospitals using CUSP.
The project was conducted by content experts from the Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, Michigan Health & Hospital Association Keystone Center, and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute.
The Technical Expert Panel working with these content experts included AARC member Richard Branson, MS, RRT, FAARC, professor of surgery emeritus at the University of Cincinnati, and Rachel Hardegree, MPH, RRT, senior director of quality programs/initiatives at the Texas Hospital Association.
The AARC assisted the project by helping to identify hospitals to take part in the study.
The four modules included in the toolkit are –
- Module on How To Apply CUSP for Mechanically Ventilated Patients
- Technical Bundles Module
- Ventilator-Associated Events and Outcome Measures Module
- Sustainability Module
Additional resources used by hospitals that participated in the project are included in the kit as well.
