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Color-Coded ID Wrist Bands For Patient Safety

Poor communication is a key contributing factor to healthcare errors.

One way to improve communication is by

placing color-coded wristbands on patients to alert caregivers to common safety factors such as allergies and fall

risk. A standardized color coding system provides a continuous communication link within an organization as well

as between other healthcare facilities when patients are transferred.

Movement toward a national standard of color-coded patient wristbands gained momentum in 2005 after a

hospital patient in Pennsylvania nearly died because a clinician incorrectly identiﬁ ed the patient with a yellow

wristband. The clinician thought yellow stood for “restricted extremity,” as it did at another hospital where she also

worked. At this hospital, however, yellow meant “do not resuscitate,” and when the patient coded, she was nearly

not resuscitated because of the yellow wristband.

“Because patient misidentiﬁ cation is identiﬁ ed as a root cause of many errors, the Joint Commission listed

improving patient identiﬁ cation accuracy as the ﬁ rst of its National Patient Safety Goals introduced in 2003, and this

continues to be an accreditation requirement.”

More than 30 states have adopted standardized

color coding for patient wristbands.

States with Standardized

Wristband Colors

States with Standardized

Wristband Colors

= Patient allergies

= Fall risk

= Do not resuscitate (DNR)

The three most

commonly used

color codes

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