Severe maternal morbidity is not always a sentinel event. Take this quiz to test your understanding of what constitutes an obstetric sentinel event.
In January 2015, the Joint Commission announced a revised definition of a sentinel event. The revised definition is any patient safety event (not primarily related to the natural course of the patient’s illness or underlying condition) that reaches a patient and results in death, permanent harm, or severe temporary harm.
Severe maternal morbidity-a patient safety event that occurs intrapartum through the immediate postpartum period (24 hours) that requires the transfusion of 4 or more units of RBCs (previously defined as blood products, such as fresh frozen plasma, packed red blood cells, whole blood, platelets) and/or admission to the ICU-is considered a sentinel event, but only if the event is not an expected result of the patient's condition.
To help obstetric providers better understand these changes, the Council on Patient Safety in Women’s Health Care, supplied the case vignettes featured in this quiz as examples of what would and would not constitute a sentinel event during a webinar held January 29, 2015.
For more information, see Sentinel Events and Severe Maternal Morbidity.
Study shows a healthy prenatal diet could be upstream obesity prevention strategy
December 26th 2024"Our findings support the recommendation of a healthy diet based on the current guidelines (as measured by the HEI) during pregnancy, since it may reduce patterns of infant growth outside reference ranges."
Read More
S1E4: Dr. Kristina Adams-Waldorf: Pandemics, pathogens and perseverance
July 16th 2020This episode of Pap Talk by Contemporary OB/GYN features an interview with Dr. Kristina Adams-Waldorf, Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Adjunct Professor in Global Health at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine in Seattle.
Listen
Early pregnancy cannabis use high in states with recreational legalization
November 11th 2024A population-based time-series analysis California before, during and after legalization show a rising trend in women using cannabis while pregnancy especially when the state has legalized the drug.
Read More
Similar delivery times between misoprostol dosages among obese patients reported
May 29th 2024A recent study found that obese patients undergoing induction of labor experienced similar delivery times regardless of whether they received 50 μg or 25 μg of vaginal misoprostol, though multiparous patients showed faster delivery with the higher dosage.
Read More