The group that accredits the nation’s hospitals wants parents to help protect their children from medical errors. In a bid to get parents to take a more active role in keeping their hosptialized kids safe, the Joint Commission is launching a new pediatric effort as part of its long-running “Speak Up” campaign, which encourages patients to say something if they see a potential error or problem with their care. Parents should remind the doctor or caregiver about a child’s allergies and any reactions the child has had to medicines. Ask surgeons to mark the part of a child’s body to be operated on, and ask whether pediatric specialists will be caring for a child in the recovery area. And remind caregivers to wash or clean their hands before touching their child. Here are more tips . Of course, asking doctors and nurses whether they are administering the right drug or have washed their hands can be intimidating, as I wrote in a column a few months back. It can be especially daunting for parents if they are less comfortable dealing with doctors or when there is a language barrier, which

leads to higher concern about errors, according to a Beth Tarini, a pediatrician and researcher at The University of Michigan. In a study she conducted at Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle, 63% of 130 parents who completed a survey reported the need to watch over their child’s care to ensure mistakes were not made. Parents who were more likely to report the need were those with lower English proficiency and non-white parents. The study was published online this week in the Journal of Hospital Medicine . While Dr. Tarini says it isn’t clear whether the 63% number should be viewed as too high or too low, the message is that parents are a “potentially underutilized resource for preventing errors.” Initiatives like the Joint Commission’s “Speak Up” campaign can help, but only “if we invite parents into the discussion and minimize the barrier of the medical hierarchy and fear,” Dr. Tarini says. “It isn’t enough to simply tell parents to speak up if we as physicians don’t invite them into the conversation.” Photo: iStockphoto

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Note to Parents of Hospitalized Kids: Be Vigilant