What I’d do if I was in charge of patient safety today
HealthLeaders recently surveyed health care leaders around the country about their thoughts on improving patient safety. Here’s a recap of what they found:
-
91% of health care leaders rank patient safety among their top 5 priorities
(Which means if you are involved in patient safety your boss thinks the work you do is really important - so important it is one of the top five things on his/her plate. So right now I would be pretty bold with my goals and my actions to reach those goals. If I was ever going to be supported in my work to improve the safety of my patients, now is the time. If I was ever going to get resources and mind share from my boss to make it happen - NOW IS THE TIME.)
-
69% say that important patient care information is sometimes, often, or always lost during shift changes
(If I really wanted support and resources for my work from my boss, I’d be focusing on teamwork and communication training around patient hand-offs between care givers during the course of care and during shift changes. I’d also make sure I had great checklists or briefing guides to standardize the way hand-offs are accomplished. My boss has recognized this is an area of weakness and an area of emphasis. Now is the time to get it fixed.)
-
73% say improved infection control practices are among the new initiatives designed to improve patient safety
(Why is my boss saying this? Because infection rates will affect our reimbursements, and because we can’t give great care if we are giving our patients infections. Again, I’d make sure we have the communications training and standardized processes in place to prevent infections. If I needed to understand how to do this I would look to the Keystone Project in Michigan for guidance.)
-
53% are devoting more financial resources to patient safety program
(If I was ever going to get a piece of the budget to fund my safety projects, now is the time. I’d get really good at showing my boss why the initiative I want to do will result in a permanent improvement in safety so I could earn a big part of the financial resources my boss is willing to invest. NOW IS THE TIME TO DREAM BIG.)
-
49% say that lack of communication skills poses the greatest risk to patient safety during handoffs or transition of care
(I now know why my boss thinks we are at risk during transitions and handoffs. I would make sure I had identified the very best communication training available and had a plan to make sure my staff was trained. Selling my boss on this training should be a lot easier than ever before.)
Bottom line: If I was in charge of patient safety in your organization, I’d realize that my work was a high priority for my boss and take advantage of that fact to dream big, act big, ask for big resources, and make it happen now in a big way.
