Patient Safety and the Obesity Epidemic: How to Tackle the Risks of an Expanding Patient Population

Many health care facilities are unprepared to meet the special care needs of extremely obese patients, even as the nation addresses an unprecedented obesity epidemic. While much attention has been given to the growth of bariatric surgery programs, the health care concerns of extremely obese patients extend well beyond these weight-loss programs to all hospital departments, as well as ambulatory and long-term settings. Health care organizations must be prepared to meet the needs of this patient population to prevent patient harm and enhance patient satisfaction. In this foundational course, you will learn to identify patient safety events involving patients who are obese and learn strategies to ensure the safe care of this patient population.

Objectives:

• • Describe commonly reported adverse events associated with the care of obese patients.
• • Summarize the needs, accommodations, and approaches that must be taken into consideration when caring for obese patients.
• • Examine common cases of incidents affecting obese patients and strategies used to prevent them.

Presenter:
Barbara Rebold, MS, RN, CPHQ
Janet Mirza, MSN, RN, CPHRM

Questions? Contact ASHRM@aha.org