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Patient Safety Teaching Case – Hyperkalemia


Submitter Information


Name: Leslie W. Hall
Title: Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine
Credentials: M.D.
Organization: University of Missouri - Columbia
Email: HallLW@health.missouri.edu
Address 1: 1 Hospital Drive; Suite 1W 25
City: Columbia
State: MO
ZIP: 65212

Teaching Strategy


Competency Category(s):
Learner Level(s):
  • Pre-licensure ADN/diploma
  • Pre-licensure BSN
  • RN to BSN
  • Staff development
  • Continuing education

Learner Setting(s):
  • Online or web-based modules
  • Classroom

Strategy Type:
  • Case studies, problem-based learning assignments, reflective practice exercises

Learning Objectives:

Knowledge:

Examine human factors and basic safety design principles as well as commonly used unsafe practices as they relate to an adverse event in health care. Describe the benefits and limitations of information systems in the improvement of health care quality. Discuss effective strategies to improve medication safety.

Attitudes:

Value the balance between professional autonomy and standardization or reliability. Appreciate the cognitive and physical limits of human performance. Recognize the value of engaging in root cause analysis rather than blaming when error or near misses occur. Value relationship between national patient safety campaigns and implementation in local practices settings.

Skills:

Use appropriate strategies to reduce reliance on memory. Demonstrate an effective use of strategies to reduce risk of harm to others. Participate appropriately in analyzing errors and designing systems improvements.

Strategy Overview:

The attached case describes an adverse event in which an infant received a potentially lethal overdose of potassium via intravenous infusion. Although the infant fortunately suffered no permanent harm from this event, this case affords students an opportunity to review the many factors that contributed to this serious error. In reviewing this case, nursing students are challenged to look beyond blaming one or more health care workers for this mistake, and instead identify system issues (latent factors) that led to the environment where such an event could occur. They are then challenged to identify possible system interventions that might lead to safer systems of care in the future.

We have utilized this primarily in small group settings (some single-specialty, some interprofessional), usually in the format of a simulated root cause analysis. However, this case could also be utilized for computer-based training.


Submitted Materials


Media Type(s):
  • MS Word documents

File(s):



Evaluation Description


Learner evaluations of sessions in which this teaching case has been utilized have indicated that the case was felt to be helpful in learning important patient safety principles.