A quality committee notices that two wards record falls differently, with one including falls from beds and the other excluding them. What should be done before comparing their fall rates?
Correct answer: A. Agree on one operational definition and recalculate the data consistently
- A. Agree on one operational definition and recalculate the data consistently
- B. Compare the existing figures because both wards use the word fall
- C. Use the higher rate as the official hospital result
- D. Ask each ward to report only falls causing serious injury
Explanation
An operational definition states exactly which events are included and how they are counted. Without the same definition, differences between wards may reflect documentation practice rather than actual safety performance.
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About Quality and Patient Safety
Quality and patient safety include standards of care, quality assurance, continuous quality improvement, audits, indicators and patient feedback. The subject also covers medication errors, falls, infections, communication failures, incident reporting, root cause analysis and preventive actions, distinguishing system improvement from assigning blame to an individual.
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