Culture of Safety

Facilitator's Guide and Outline

Rationale

  • Tens of thousands of people die each year due to medical errors.
  • (Local data)
  • The organizational culture regarding patient safety is key to meaningful improvements.
  • Individual caregivers and the whole institution need to define and promote the cultural components they desire.

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Grabber

  • Is your organization safe?
  • What would your patients say?

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Introduction

  • Organizational culture defined: formally and informally
  • Culture of patient safety defined: formally and informally
  • An optimal culture of patient safety: defined
  • Pursuing an optimal culture of patient safety

Key Message #1

Defining organizational culture

  • An impression
  • Stable, comfortable parameters for behavior
  • A code of conduct
  • A pattern of basic assumptions
  • Revealed in a variety of ways

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Key Message #2

Defining an optimal culture of safety

  • The “right” (or optimal) culture of safety
  • Built on underlying principles
  • Expressed in stated values
  • Demonstrated via visible signs

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Key Message #3

Barriers to an optimal culture of safety

Why don’t people who care, act safely, or think about safety?

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Key Message #4

Pursuing a culture of safety

  • Assessment
  • Improvement
  • Perpetuation

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Key Message #5

Whose job is safety culture improvement?

  • Senior staff
  • Managers
  • Caregivers

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Summary

Perpetuating an optimal culture of safety is everyone’s job.

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