Commemoration is next week

Patient Safety Awareness Week is March 7-13, and the Minnesota hospitals mentioned below will host or have hosted related activities.

The eighth-annual commemoration, sponsored by the National Patient Safety Foundation, works to educate patients on how to become more involved in their health care and to promote partnerships between health care providers and their communities.

Among other prominent patient safety efforts, the Minnesota Hospital Association's (MHA's) quarterly patient safety awards recognize hospitals' work to prevent the most common types of adverse health events in Minnesota. Those are: pressure ulcers, falls, retained foreign objects and wrong-site, wrong-patient and wrong-procedure invasive procedures.

In January, MHA launched the Good Catch Award to recognize hospital professionals who "speak up" to prevent potential harm to patients. Certificate winners are selected among member hospital nominations. Winners are eligible to win a quarterly and a yearly MHA Good Catch Award.

Minnesota hospital patient safety week activities:

1. St. Cloud-based CentraCare Health System and its St. Cloud Hospital are kicking off the organizations' participation in MHA's Good Catch Award program by encouraging employees to complete a "culture of safety" survey. In a play on "Good Catch," on Monday staff will hand out Goldfish crackers.
   
   The health system is also placing posters that encourage patients and their families to ask the following three questions, suggested by the National Patient Safety Foundation, when meeting with their doctor, nurse or pharmacist:
   • What is my main problem?
   • What do I need to do?
   • Why is it important for me to do it?
     
   Lastly, safety week information on CentraCare's Web site will include a link to a patient safety quiz. Participants will have a chance to win a patient safety book.
   
   
2. St. Paul-based HealthEast Care System created "Scavenger Hunt for Safety" rooms, to be on display all week at all four HealthEast hospitals. All employees will be invited to stop by and see if they can spot the planted potential patient safety risks, such as:
   • a call light that is not in reach;
   • bloody dressing left out in the open;
   • prohibited abbreviations in the patient's chart; and
   • medication left on a bedside table.
     
   Also, HealthEast Patient Safety Lead Catherine Hinz, HealthEast Chief Medical Quality Officer Craig Svendsen, M.D., and the medical director from St. John's Hospital, John Kvasnicka, M.D., were guests this month on the Emmy-nominated "Inside Health Care." The public affairs show is carried on 11 Twin Cities cable television stations.
   
   The show interviews all focused on patient safety. Specifically, for example, Kvasnicka talked about what St. John's is doing to prevent falls and pressure ulcers. Both Svendsen and Kvasnicka gave advice on what patients should do before their next hospital visit to keep themselves safe. And Hinz discussed HealthEast's safety week activities.
   
   Finally, at each of the hospitals' cafeterias and at the system's corporate office, HealthEast staff members will explain how they use a communication method called "Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation" (SBAR) to enhance communication among care team members. SBAR is used in health care as a standardized way to share information, especially between nurses and physicians. The method ensures that key elements of a patient's care are discussed and all who are communicating are clear on any care that needs to be provided.
   
   Under SBAR, for example, caregivers ending their work shift summarize for the next caregivers the patient's condition and what they recommend the patient needs going forward. Ensuring good communication during such "hand-offs" is important to preventing adverse health events.
   
   A 6-foot banner, inflatable palm trees, beach balls, summer music, and beach umbrellas will be part of the SBAR promotion next week. The event will include free snacks and soda. Each beverage, like the "Situation Spritzer" or the "Assessment-tini" will be labeled with a description of SBAR. Staff members will receive a handout outlining the communication method.
   
   The public will be invited to participate as well. Materials encourage patients, families and visitors to "speak up" when it comes to their health care. HealthEast will provide beverages and will distribute handouts on the "Top 10 Questions to Ask Your Clinician" as well as "5 Tips for Safer Healthcare."
   
   
3. In observance of patient safety week's theme this year of "Let's Talk! Healthy Conversations for Safer Healthcare," Madelia Community Hospital (MCH) placed an advertisement in the Madelia Times Messenger spotlighting that the hospital has earned three Minnesota Hospital Association patient safety awards. Those awards are given to hospitals that reach at least 90 percent of best practices to prevent specific adverse health events.
   
   Also, MCH created a display in the hospital's lobby featuring educational materials promoting patient safety, improving health care quality and strengthening alliances between patients, families and their health care providers.
   
   In an effort to increase traffic to the table, MCH will give away a door prize of a massage. The hospital's Web site also has patient safety information and links for patients and their family members.
   
   Lastly, Madelia Community hospital staff will be sent daily patient safety information. Organizers will also create a "safety" puzzle, and those that finish will be entered into a drawing.
   
   
4. Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar recently held its annual safety fair to showcase the work staff members are doing to enhance safety and quality of care. Nearly 20 initiatives were on display, ranging from allergy documentation to streamlining the operation of the hospital's laboratory, a Feb. 26 West Central Tribune story said.
   
   "Poster boards, photos and charts helped illustrate each project. Some teams, such as the committee working on the safe collection of hazardous waste, even brought their own props," the article said. Read the article here (free registration required to view article).
   
   Hospitals not mentioned above that host patient safety week activities are encouraged to send such details to Martha Parsons, MHA communication specialist/writer, at (651) 603-3495.

For more information about patient safety week, visit www.npsf.org/hp/psaw/ or contact Tania Daniels, MHA vice president of patient safety, at (651) 603-3517 or Julie Apold, MHA director of patient safety, at (651) 603-3538.