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Six steps to building support for a new program

Nurse Leader Weekly, September 28, 2003

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Heavy-duty staff involvement precipitated the rollout of Memorial Health System's new patient safety initiative called "It's OK to Ask" in March 2003. The program's goal is to encourage patients and the public to question staff about things like infection control precautions to help ensure a safer environment of care. The staff's remarkable efforts are a lesson in how to get the word out about a new program at your facility.

This is a key point often missed by other hospitals attempting similar goals, says Jim Bente, RN, vice president of quality and organizational development at the Springfield, IL, hospital.

"This was a very different approach than most organizations take," Bente says. "It wasn't just in [the hospital] newsletter. We went out and talked to people. And with 3,000 employees at Memorial Health, that took time."

Let's look at what the process involved:

1. To start, the hospital convened focus groups totaling 100 employees in 2002 to talk about encouraging patients to question their care more.

2. The groups liked the proposal, so it moved to the facility's quality and safety committee for a lively discussion that looked at all sides, Bente says. Some liability concerns arose about whether the program's existence would imply that there was subpar care at Memorial Health. For example, if the hospital encouraged patients to ask about hand hygiene, did that indicate that physicians didn't regularly wash their hands? However, hospital officials felt comfortable that "It's OK to Ask" bolstered the quality of care, and didn't expose any shortfalls.

3. The quality and safety committee eventually endorsed the idea, which led to training senior executives. This was an important step to demonstrate high-end support for the program and its importance to the corner office.

4. From there, department heads received an introduction to the program, with orders to talk directly with their employees.

5. Supervisors attempted to reach every worker individually. This part of the training took a month, Bente says.

6. Once hospital officials were satisfied that the program had enough of an internal foundation, a Web site went up and Memorial Health held a press conference to announce the start of the program during National Patient Safety Week this past March.

Adapted from Briefings on Hospital Safety: http://www.hcmarketplace.com/Prod.cfm?id=45

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