Hospital Posters

I walked through the hallways of a Long Island Hospital on my way to visit a patient and noticed that this long hallway had some signs hanging up about patient safety.

I was looking at what the large framed posters were about and the word “medication” caught my eye. I stopped to look at the rest of the posters and there was one on preventing falls, anesthesia safety, infections as well as medication safety. I was pretty impressed with these posters but also realized that anyone walking through this long corridor was probably not going to stop to read these posters.

So, I did what I’m sure anyone would do, I visited the lobby, waiting areas and patient hallways to see if there were any additional wall hangings where people would have the time to read them. They weren’t there.

I wonder why these wouldn’t be made smaller and put in every patient’s room. It only makes sense that these notices are to protect everyone – the patient and the staff. It’s so much easier asking about the medication or understanding how falls happen when it is in our face. Signs and posters like these give the patients and the visitor’s permission to be involved. When the staff and the patient are seeing the same information, that’s how a partnership forms.