Moderate sedation, and sedation in general, requires continuous monitoring of the patient’s condition and presence of appropriately-trained personnel throughout the entire procedure to prevent complications from oversedation. Consideration of the patient-specific underlying risk factors, thorough and complete communication with all members of the care team, and standardization of procedures, tools, and processes involved in moderate sedation can significantly decrease risk of complications and unplanned interventions. However, sedation standards across healthcare facilities vary greatly and are not well-regulated, leading to variations in practice and outcomes.

Our APSS outline actionable steps healthcare organizations should take to successfully implement and sustain behavior change for high reliability, shared understanding, thorough communication, and meaningful person-centered care across the organization.

Actionable steps include:

• Executive Summary Checklist
• Leadership checklist guide to determine whether current evidence-based guidelines are being followed in your organization
• Performance improvement plan to follow if improvements are necessary
• Clinical workflow for preoccupation with workflow for areas of improvement
• How to educate patients and family members about the significance of their role throughout the continuum
• Guidance on how to measure outcomes