As leaders, we need to listen (as well as direct) and this is one of those times. A couple of weeks ago we launched a survey for our team members to tell us how they feel about our culture and just how safe of an environment we have created. It's actually something we do every other year to gauge our progress and identify opportunities of where we can continue to improve.
Our last survey in
- Hospital hand-offs and transitions
- Non-punitive response to error
- Teamwork across hospital units
- Staffing based on acuity
Since then we have made concerted efforts to improve upon these items as well as other safety initiatives that have surfaced. I look forward to seeing the results of this years survey and to see how far we have come along and what new areas we can work to improve upon.
If you are a JHSMH team member and haven't completed your survey, please do so by the end of the month so your voice can be heard! Details are on the intranet: under “Company News and Announcements” you will find “AHRQ Patient Safety Survey.” Click the link and tell us what you think! Thank you!
9 comments:
Press Ganey 2009 Safety Culture Pulse Report -
http://pressganey.com/galleries/default-file/Safety_Culture_Pulse_Report_2009.pdf
In conjunction with Patient Safety Awareness Week, Press Ganey Associates, Inc. released a first-of-its-kind Safety Culture Pulse Report to assess the correlation between medical errors and the cultural impacts within the health care provider workplace. The report establishes a baseline for future efforts in safety improvement and is timely because, despite the many advances toward prevention, medical errors remain a significant problem in today's health care system.
Hi,
I'm curious about the methods you used to improve the problems stated and which ones have been the most successful. I work for a Lean consulting firm and we've worked with other hospitals that are experiencing deficiencies similar to the ones you stated.
Thanks,
Annie Archer
Jonathan, this is very interesting research...I need some more time to study and reflect on this and my thoughts. Thanks for sharing!
Annie, numerous efforts have been undertaken to attempt to address this issue, some with more success than others. There are however, a number of best practice efforts we have implemented to move the bar including:
- "Ticket to ride" a communications tool that is required between two care-givers when transporting a patient for tests or treatments that covers key info about the patients status.
- Implementing a "Just Culture" that focuses on a non-punitive approach to errors in efforts to open the lines of communication to share and learn from mistakes rather than punishing them.
- SBAR communication tool between doctors and nurses to ensure key information is gathered and relayed about a patients condition.
- Acuity based staffing, adjusting staffing demands based upon acuity of the unit.
Others are in process, but the majority of the fixes revolve first around having a culture that supports and stands up for the safety of our patients.
Would be happy to discuss further with you if interested. Thanks!
Marty,
I commend you for the efforts that Jewish Hospital is taking. Improvement with patient’s safety in mind should be a continuous process that I believe many hospitals struggle with or ignore completely. Additionally, it seems like you're focused on establishing a culture change which is an essential part of ensuring that change will be sustained and accepted by staff.
I would love to send you a copy of our Clients Results Brochure. It has about 12 case studies, many of which are issues that parallel the ones that Jewish Hospital is changing. Let me know if you're interested. aarcher@juran.com.
Annie
I really appreciate the formus last week. I think Jewish Hosp should keep it's staff/team memebers in the know with serious issues involving the organization. Rumors do go around and without communication we as emoloyess feel lack of respect, that we are not an important part of the orgnization. Also as a RN, I feel our CNO needs to conduct formus in the neart future there are many concerns & issues at the bedside level that are detremental to pt care/safety. Epecially when the reorganization is affectiing pt care. I have never met her, a I just know of her. Thank you for your time.
I hate it when people start complaining then you discover that they didn't answer survey like what you are having or expressed their opinions. In order to have improvements, you also need to exert effort to get them started. It was really nice that you tackled about it. Nice post!
Interesting.
Most of the JH physicians I have spoken to believe you have created, and in fact foster and promote and actively engage in, a culture in which those who voice concern about hospital problems are actively persecuted. Further, I have personally witnessed you and the other members of hospital 'leadership' actively cover up the hospital's errors, up to and including failing to comply with federal regulations for incident reporting.
I will wager you will fail to post this response, and instead will relegate it to the 'comment moderation' category.
Anon-Sept 3
Protected in the cloak of anonymity, you make serious allegations. Over the past two years I have worked diligently to promote a very open and transparent culture. Many team members have expressed concerns to me on a regular basis in forums, meetings, and random hallway conversations to which there have not been any repercussions to speak of, after all it is only with open communication that we can better understand each other and make changes for the better. With that, I take your accusations to either be unfounded and/or uneducated with respect to the facts of the situations to which you refer.
Nonetheless, I have responded to your 'wager' and I will in turn challenge to you to substantiate your accusations. If you are not brave enough to put your name behind your remarks, then I would urge you to contact our compliance hot-line where you can remain anonymous and seek clarification to your concerns. Thank you.
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