Accreditation

Changing staff behavior to implement a National Patient Safety Goal

Accreditation Connection, September 19, 2005

Gain leadership involvement to change a staff behavior, say Glenn Krasker and Della Lin, authors of The JCAHO 2006 National Patient Safety Goals: Successful Strategies for Compliance.

As with any effort to change staff behavior (whether it be eliminating use of prohibited abbreviations or cooperating with a nurse during the read-back of a telephone order), the likelihood of success increases if staff see the change as an organizational priority.

Therefore, encourage senior management to get out on the floors and into the departments to "talk up the Goals" and compliance with them. If staff constantly hear from the CEO how important these goals are to improving patient safety, the message will begin to resonate and take hold. Then you should see improved performance in this area.

Most Popular

Related Articles