The nurse is presenting an in-service on the importance of collaborative communication. The nurse includes which critical event identified by the Joint Commission as an outcome of poor communication among health care team members?

Question

a. The occurrence of a patient event resulting in death or serious injury
b. Decreased ability to document expenses of care provided
c. Longer time to begin surgical cases
d. Increased time to discharge patients to outpatient care

Answer 1

ANS: A
The Joint Commission has identified that poor communication is the primary factor in the occurrence of sentinel events, or events resulting in unintended death or serious injury to patients. Lack of documentation, longer time to begin surgery, and increased delays in discharge all contribute to the management of health care, but do not result in critical patient outcomes.