So are you ready to join the fight and bring safety to your hospital? Please watch this video and think how you can change your hospital culture and make patients and staff top priority! Be Zero Heroes! Please watch this video created by the Lehigh Valley Health Network




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKjimXWpJPk&feature=related

Creating a safe environment for patient and staff can be very easy. It can exist by implementing several different techniques. These techniques revolve around communication. The following are several different methods that you can use in your practice. One method is called SBAR. If you have a concern, communicating to your peers utilizing a SBAR format can help. S-describing the situation, B-is giving some background information, A-assessment of what you see is happening, and R-is giving your recommendations. Another method frequently used is a question or concern has been raised is the STAR technique. This is S-stop, T-think, A-act, R-review. This technique can take only seconds to do but can reduce your chances of making errors or preceding in the face of uncertainty. I hope that you will take a moment and try one of these methods the next time you have a concern and see how easy it can be to make every day a safe day!

Reference:
Burke, G. H., LeFever, G. B., & Sayles, S. M. (2009). Zero events of harm to patients. Managing Infection Control 28(2), 44-50.

Hi everyone,
So I have been blogging for a couple of weeks now and I would like to evaluate how this is going and if I need to change anything. Please take a moment and take this short survey monkey. Thanks so much in advance!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YB7F55R

I am looking forward to any information you can provide to making this a more meaningful blog! Thanks so much! Lorelai

For the past week I have been talking about a culture of safety in hospital organizations. I have been a nurse for 28 years  and I can tell you when my hospital decided to change our culture and adopt safety as our keystone, I can tell you it changed us all. I know everyday I go to work, I have made a difference because I have created a safe day for my fellow staff members and the patients and famlies I take care of. I hope that I have inspired you to go back to your organizations and show them that while ensuring patient safety and  top quality of care will be achieved (Riley, 2009). We are all nurse leaders and we all have a responsibility to create a safe day every day!

Reference:

Riley, W. (2009). High reliability and implications for nursing leaders. Journal of Nursing Management ,17(2), 238-246. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2009.00971.x

Safety is the keystone

Safety is the keystone in excellent performance. Visible leadership support, from both nursing and physician arenas, is a necessary foundation for patient safety initiatives, as is the foundation of a fair and just culture(DuPree, Anderson, McEvoy, & Brodman, 2011). We must look at developing a culture of safety in each of practice areas and expect the best from all who work there. Advancement of safety culture for healthcare will take hold when safety is the keystone in the organization. Will you join the fight and make safety your keystone for your organization?

Reference:

DuPree, E., Anderson, R., McEvoy, M., & Brodman, M. (2011). Professionalism: A necessary ingredient in a culture of safety. Joint Commission Journal on Quality & Patient Safety, 37(10), 447-455.

Safety is something we need to incorporate into our day every day we practice at the bedside. Learning how to incorporate safety checks is important to the patients we serve. At my hospital, we utilize report sheets and have our safety checks printed onto the worksheets we use. Then it is present every time we get report. These are things like: checking all lines for proper labeling and proper connections, double checking all medications and fluids hanging with the current orders, making sure that the suction is working appropriately, the ambu bag is connected to a oxygen source, all IV sites are ok, ID band is correctly placed on patient, beds are in the lowest positions when patients are getting in and out of bed, and that the proper isolation signs and fall signs are in place. It is doing the little things that can make all the difference. Will you try creating a report sheet that can help you bring safety to the forefront? http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=6018840&height=267&width=200

Blogging

Hey everyone. I did not realize earlier until I received a phone call from one of my staff members about how I answered my own blog instead of posting to my blog. Sorry about that. I had wanted to gather some information from you about safety in your organizations. I hope you will take the time to participate in this survey monkey about safety. Thanks!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D56GSTY

Some think safety can be boring. But when you stop and think how important it is to bring it to the bedside everyday, I think this video will demonstrate how fun and important safety can be. Please take a look!
Everyone must get involved to protect our patients!

http://www.youtube.com/embed/kg-2kEzWIOI

Safety. What exactly does that mean? Is it having policies and procedures in place to assist in guiding the nurses to a safer practice? Is it providing the right resources at the bedside for the nurses and pharmacy staff to complete their work? Is it adding a practice like bar coding  to decrease the amount of medication errors? Is it adding a electronic library on the work computer for easy access of medication information? These are all exampled of systems put into place to assist with providing safe care to our patients. The ultimate goal of safety is to lessen harm to the patients (Barnsteiner, 2011).  We must start looking for innovative ways to bring safety to the bedside everyday! It is all of our responsibility, so start looking for ways to bring safety to your hospital! Develop your culture of safety! 

Reference:
Barnsteiner, J. (2011). Teaching the Culture of Safety. Online Journal of Issues In Nursing, 16(3), 1. doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol16No03Man05

Introduction

 Good evening! Welcome to the world of safety. A Culture of Safety. Nurses today are the gatekeepers of safety for the patients we serve. This blog will explore different concepts surrounding safety. Medical errors in health care are related to poorly designed processes of care, lack of support systems for decision making and a structured environment in which nurses work (Page, 2004). Nurses must become engaged in the processes that can create a safe day every day for our patients. This is vital for our profession. I hope to reveal evidence that will motivate and empower nurses out in cyber land to go back to their units and create a safe day for their patients they care for.

Reference:

Page A. (2004) Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the work environment of nurses. National Academies Press, Washington,DC.