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Patient Safety

Superior Health, as the Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organizations (QIN-QIO) for Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, provides technical assistance to hospitals and nursing homes to improve patient safety by enhancing clinical processes like surgical care, infection control, and medication safety.

On this page, you’ll find: 

  • Action Plans and Resources: Detailed documents and plans for managing infections and preventing adverse drug events (ADEs). 
  • Infection Control Practices: Guidance on critical practices, including hand hygiene, enhanced barrier precautions and personal protective equipment (PPE). 
  • Specialized Topics: Information on antibiotic stewardship, managing multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) and reducing the use of antipsychotic medications. 
  • Preventive Measures: Resources on vaccination strategies and water management to prevent the spread of infections.

Important Resources to Improve Patient Safety

Use our Resource Library to access additional resources, sort by care setting, topic, file type and keyword.

Action Plans

Access action plans for tackling Costridioides difficile infection (CDI), COVID-19, pneumonia, sepsis, urinary tract infections (UTI) and more, along with staff training in infection prevention. 

Action Plan: Clostridioides Difficile Infection
Action plan for reducing rehospitalizations for residents with a diagnosis of clostridioides difficile infection.
Action Plan: COVID-19
Action plan for reducing rehospitalizations for residents with a diagnosis of COVID-19.
Action Plan: Pneumonia
Action plan for reducing rehospitalizations for residents with a diagnosis of pneumonia.
Action Plan: Sepsis
Action plan for reducing rehospitalizations for residents with a diagnosis of sepsis.
Action Plan: Urinary Tract Infection
Action plan for reducing rehospitalizations for residents with a diagnosis of urinary tract infection
Action Plan: Decreasing Bowel and Bladder Incontinence
Use this worksheet to identify and implement actions to reduce bowel and bladder incontinence for long stay residents
Action Plan: Infection Prevention and Control
Use this worksheet to identify and implement actions to ensure all staff receive annual infection prevention and control training.

The Front Line Forces module The Relationship Between Minimum Data Set (MDS) Coding, Diagnosis Reconciliation and Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) is relevant for nurses and minimum data set (MDS) staff responsible for ensuring that the diagnosis for residents returning to a nursing home after a hospital or emergency department (ED) visit are accurate and reflect the residents’ current condition.

Access additional adverse drug event resources by visiting our searchable Resource Library.

Front Line Forces: MDS Coding, Diagnosis Reconciliation and ADEs

Access additional antipsychotic medication resources by visiting our searchable Resource Library.

Antipsychotic Medication Safety Decision Tool
Use this decision tool to ensure antipsychotic medications are being used appropriately in your home.
Change Bundle: Avoidance of Unnecessary Antipsychotic Medications in Nursing Home Residents Living with Dementia
This bundle of actions contains the practices used by nursing homes participating in the National Nursing Home Quality Care Collaborative to successfully reduce inappropriate antipsychotic drug use.
Fishbone Tool with Antipsychotic Medication Examples
This fillable fishbone diagram contains root cause analysis examples to help plan for the goal of appropriate use of antipsychotic medications.
Five Whys Tool with Antipsychotic Medication Examples
This fillable form contains 5 Whys question examples to help reveal the root cause of inappropriate antipsychotic medication use.
How to Help Your Loved One: Improve Dementia Care by Reducing Unnecessary Antipsychotic Drugs
This guide provides information for family members to explore alternatives to antipsychotic medications for their loved ones with dementia.
Nursing Home Audit Tool for Psychotropic Medications
This decision tool can be used to ensure antipsychotic medications are being used appropriately in your nursing home.
Quality Improvement Plan for Antipsychotic Medications
This quality improvement (QI) plan provides a sample report to help you improve your facility’s medication review process.
Hand Hygiene (HH) Compliance Audit Tool
This audit tool is intended to assess and evaluate hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers and vendors
Hand Washing and Sanitizing Competency
This audit tool is intended to assess and evaluate hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers.
Hand Hygiene (HH) and Contact Precautions Observations
This audit tool is intended to assess and evaluate hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers.
Front Line Forces: Hand Hygiene
Front Line Forces: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)
Front Line Forces: Candida auris (C. auris)
Front Line Forces: Clostridioides difficile (CDI)
Action Plan: Clostridioides Difficile Infection
Action plan for reducing rehospitalizations for residents with a diagnosis of clostridioides difficile infection.
Preventing Multidrug Resistant Organisms (MDROs): FAQs
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Strategies for prevention and response to novel and targeted multidrug-resistant organisms.

Find tools and guides for proper PPE use, including mask assessment, glove removal and donning/doffing competency in health care settings.

Source Control Assessment: Guide for Mask Use in Health Care Settings
Disposable Glove Removal Competency and Compliance
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Direct Observation Checklist
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Disposable Glove Removal Compliance Audit Tool
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Specific to Source Control/Facemasks
Using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Competency: Donning
Using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Competency: Doffing
Combating Mask Fatigue
Practical tips to assist staff when experiencing mask fatigue.

Explore resources for sepsis prevention, including action plans, screening tools, training videos and toolkits.

Long Term Care Severe Sepsis Screening Tool
A resource for screening sepsis.
Introduction to Sepsis (Recording)
Recognition and Management of Sepsis in the Long-term Care Setting: An Interactive Work Group
Introduction to Sepsis (Slides)
Recognition and Management of Sepsis in the Long-term Care Setting: An Interactive Work Group
Using Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (Recording)
Recognition and Management of Sepsis in the Long-term Care Setting: An Interactive Work Group
Using Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (Slides)
Recognition and Management of Sepsis in the Long-term Care Setting: An Interactive Work Group
Early Recognition and Management of Sepsis for Post-acute Settings Toolkit
A sepsis toolkit for post-acute health care settings.
Front Line Forces: Sepsis
Transmission-Based Precautions Grid
Enhanced Barrier Precautions Toolkit
Toolkit designed to walk long-term care facilities through EBP implementation.
Audit Tool: Occupational and Physical Therapist – Enhanced Barrier Precaution (EBP)
Enhanced Barrier Precautions Must Do Poster
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, This poster shows the requirements for EBP in long-term care.

Access more UTI prevention tools by visiting our resource library and typing “UTI” or “Urinary Tract Infection.”

Action Plan: Decreasing Bowel and Bladder Incontinence
Use this worksheet to identify and implement actions to reduce bowel and bladder incontinence for long stay residents
Worksheet to Create a Performance Improvement Project Charter
Use this worksheet to define key project charter components.
Bowel and Bladder Diary
Criteria to Determine Presence of Urinary Track Infection (Recording)
This video training provides criteria for determining the presence of a UTI.
Preventing Urinary Tract Infections (Recording)
This video training provides information on best practices for preventing UTIs.
Infection Prevention and Control Training

SafeClean Series

The goal of the series is to educate and empower members of the environmental services team within long-term care facilities through infection prevention and control training.
View Series
Pneumonia Prevention Animated Video Series

Rosa's Journey

"Rosa's Journey" is an animated video series designed to enhance nursing home staff training on pneumonia prevention. Following the daily life of resident Rosa Residente, each episode addresses key topics such as admission, mobility, change of condition, transmission-based precautions, rehospitalization, oral care and discharge.
View Series

Front Line Forces

Front Line Forces training modules and resources cover topics developed with direct care staff in mind, created for those working in long-term care and other health care settings. Explore these topics related to patient safety.