Simply safety: 10 easy ways to prevent errors & injuries.

They're three of the most-feared words an administrator or owner can hear at their long term care facility: "Someone got hurt." What's worse is when those three words are followed with three more: "We're getting sued."

While injuries can be almost unavoidable, you can reduce the odds of sending someone to the infirmary with a few simple, inexpensive efforts.

Watch that script. According to U.S. Pharmacopeia, a Rockville, Md.-based developer of prescription standards, illegible handwriting is one of the most common causes of medication-related errors. Confusing labeling, such as similar drug names or abbreviations, is another. Can't afford an all-electronic medical records system? Try this: block print everything, according to Kim House, medical director of the Veteran's Administration Nursing Home Care Unit in Atlanta. Keep computers available, she added, for those who are uncomfortable block printing.

Revise medical forms. Many injury-causing mistakes occur because someone did not correctly fill out the paperwork, according to Joseph Ouslander, chief medical officer at Wesley Wood Center in Atlanta. For example, most facilities require a pharmacist to sign a form approving a prescription order. Changing the form into a checklist that requires a signature makes the pharmacist slow down and read what she is signing--and helps reduce prescription errors, Ouslander noted.

Think ergonomics. Conduct a safety review of the facility as employees do their jobs. Look for potential problems, such as improper lifting techniques, poor-fitting or skid-inducing shoes, heavy glare on monitors and excessive noise in the work area. Then make and distribute a short flyer reminding staff about these dangers and how to avoid them.

"Catch me." Falls are the biggest source of injury among seniors, affecting one in three people aged 65 or older each year, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. While many devices exist to help prevent them, the risk of a resident taking a tumble can dramatically decline with a little common-sense surveying of the facility--often done for free by manufacturers of anti-fall devices. Safety consultants can also help identify problem areas. Watch for uplifted carpets, wet floors and improperly functioning safety equipment, suggested Dave Lennox, president of Quality Behavioral Solutions in Holliston, Mass.

Watch your windows. It's not uncommon for residents to walk into things--especially glass doors or floor-to-ceiling windows, according to John Miller, a spokesperson for V-Kool, a security film manufacturer in Houston. Security film can keep that accidental collision from becoming a scar fest. The polyester film--not to be confused with tinted laminate glass covering--also helps prevent glass from shattering inward during a natural disaster or exterior explosion, Miller said. The film also blocks solar heat, making it an energy-saver, he said.

Get the door. Major injuries can start at doors or any other egress points, according to Lennox--the places where residents typically waltz outside toward freedom and potential danger. Many electronic aides exist here, such as door alarms, motion sensors and wired floor mats. But you can also cut down on the odds of Mr. Jones being hit by a car a mile outside your facility by securing all of your doors and windows per fire safety regulations, Lennox said.

Wrist action. If one of your residents wanders away, a simple I D bracelet can help get that person back home. The bracelet includes information on the resident's medical status and how to contact family or caregivers. An electronic version of the bracelet--in which a resident's medical history and contact information are stored in a database accessible by physicians or other caregivers--is available from Turlock, Calif.-based MedicAlert for $35 annually. "A lot of the facilities we've approached will buy 50 or 100 of these and give them to their residents," said Kori Novak, MedicAlert's marketing manager. "Something this simple and maintenance-free can really help save someone's life."

* In living color. Older residents may still want to shower or bathe themselves but have trouble remembering hot from cold on the faucet, according to Tertia Mendoza, an agent with PowerPR in Los Angeles. Mendoza's mother scalded herself by mistakenly turning off the cold water instead of the hot. The solution: color-coded knobs--red for hot, blue for cold. They are available commercially for as little as $10 each, but colored duct tape works just as effectively--albeit not as aesthetically--for about half the price.

* Create a "culture of safety." People usually know about the problems only when others tell them they exist. But that doesn't happen in an environment where an employee, resident or family member feels insecure about reporting observations, according to House. Each facility should have someone staff, residents or family can speak to without fear of retribution.

* Communicate. The communication channels throughout your facility need to be kept wide open. Proper information about a resident's care needs to be passed along from shift to shift. "We have a patient here who will fight, kick, hit and try to grab you," House said. "But give him a Diet Coke and you can do anything to him you want. If you went only by what's on his diagnosis form, you'd see he was an 86-year-old with dementia, heart disease and diabetes. Nothing about that would trigger that you should bring him a Coke."