Patient Safety Information

Give Information
Openly share your health history with your health care team. This includes the medications you take, any operations you've had, or any allergies you may have. The more your caregivers know, the more successful your care plan and recovery will be.

Get Information
Make it your job to understand. If you have any questions or concerns about your condition or treatment, please be sure to ask. It's your body and your health. Also, if you are given a pill or some medication that you don't recognize, ask to have it checked before you accept it. Simple questions can help stop a mistake from being made.

Provide Your Identification
For your safety, our hospital staff may ask you the same questions many times. They will ask you for your full name and date of birth to make sure you get the treatment or services meant for you. They will do this before giving medications or blood, before taking blood samples or specimens, and before providing other treatments or procedures. Taking these precautions helps prevent mistakes.

Help Reduce the Risk of Infection
Doctors, nurses, and other health care providers come into contact with a lot of bacteria and viruses. That’s why they should clean their hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based cleansing gel before treating you. This is important even if they use gloves. Hands should be cleaned before putting on new gloves, and gloves should be discarded after a single use. Health care providers should wear clean gloves when they perform such tasks as taking blood, touching wounds or body fluids, and performing an evaluation. Don’t be afraid to ask anyone participating in your care (this includes visitors and family members) if they cleaned their hands or if they should wear gloves before touching you. You help everyone by speaking up. Also wash your own hands and keep any wounds clean and dry.

Be Aware of Our Pre-Surgery / Procedure Precautions
If you will be having surgery or a special procedure while in the hospital, here’s what you can expect staff to do to help prevent errors. Each doctor or nurse will ask you the same questions about your identity, procedure, and the side or site of the procedure. Don’t be alarmed by these questions. This is how they make sure they have everything right. Your surgeon or other member of the procedure team may also mark the spot on your body to be operated on before you go in to the procedure room. In addition, they may give you an antibiotic medication to help prevent a surgical infection. Just before the procedure begins, everyone in the room will take a short “time out” and check for the last time that they are doing the right procedure on the right body part and on the right person. The physicians and nursing staff at Meridian are taking these important steps to make sure that everything goes as planned for your surgery or procedure.

Know How to Care for Yourself at Home
If you or your partner in care are not quite sure how to take care of yourself after you get home, ask for written instructions that you understand. Staying healthy and safe once you get home is up to you. Make sure you get it right because the more you know, the more in control of your health you will be.

Meridian Health is committed to providing high quality and safe patient care. If you have any concerns about the patient care or safety in the hospital, please contact the patient representative at 732-897-7440 so we can promptly and directly address them. If your concerns cannot be resolved by the hospital, you can also contact the Joint Commission at 1-800-994-6610 or via e-mail at complaint@jointcommission.org.