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How to establish an award-winning culture of safety
Quality Improvement Monitor, September 30, 2004
Ever wonder exactly what it means to develop a "culture of safety"? Consider this: The facility services department at Sentara Norfolk (VA) General Hospital (SNGH) received a phone call from a nursing unit requesting a negative pressure smoke test in a patient room, to be occupied by a lung transplant patient.
When the staffer repeated the nurse's request back to ensure he heard her correctly, one of his coworkers, Bart Landers, team coordinator, overheard and intervened. The request was unusual, he said, based on his knowledge of the indications for positive and negative pressure rooms. Didn't the nurse really need a positive pressure room?
Indeed, Landers' instincts were correct, and after discussing his concerns with the nurse, a physician, and an infection control officer, the team agreed that the patient needed a positive pressure room. By questioning an equipment request and clearly communicating with fellow staff members, the facility's staffer prevented an error that could have harmed a patient.
This is one of many safety success stories that resulted from SNGH's culture of safety initiative-and which earned it the American Hospital Association's prestigious American Hospital Association McKesson Quest for Quality Prize. Presented in July, the award recognizes Sentara's ongoing commitment to reduce medical errors.
Learn how SNGH changed its culture, secured leadership support, and changed behavior--and find out how it measures its continued sucess--when you order this story today. The cost is just $10.
This story appeared in the September 2004 issue of Briefings on Quality Improvement and Data Reporting. Click here to subscribe at a special low rate!
-- Wendy Johnson
wjohnson@hcpro.com
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