Together we are better, stronger, safer. Patient Safety Awareness Week is an annual recognition event to grow awareness about patient safety and to recognize the work being done to reduce harm. Properly engaging patients, caregivers, and providers; integrating quality improvement practices; and collecting and interpreting data are critical to supporting patient safety initiatives. The Great Plains QIN team will be sharing resources and tools throughout the week.
Why Focus on Safety?
Preventing harm is a public health concern and we can all do our part. Although there has been real progress made in patient safety over time, current estimates cite medical harm as a leading cause of death worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates that 134 million adverse events occur each year due to unsafe care in hospitals in low and middle-income countries, resulting in some 2.6 million deaths. Additionally, some 40 percent of patients experience harm in ambulatory and primary care settings with an estimated 80 percent of these harms being preventable.
Patient Safety Awareness Week | Activities To Consider:
⇒ Make plans to attend a patient safety-focused training or conference.
Join IHI’s annual Patient Safety Awareness Week webinar on March 16 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM (CT) with speakers Don Berwick, MD, MPP, and Jessica Berwick, MD, MPH, for a conversation on sensemaking during times of uncertainty, complexity and chaos. This session will provide insights and perspective to foster sensemaking and action to reinforce patient and workforce safety in your organization. Register today.
⇒ Audit the resources you are using to promote patient safety and consider some new additions.
⇒ Download a Toolkit or Guide to assist with promotion and ideas:
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Patient Safety Awareness Week Toolkit
- Patient Safety Awareness Week Toolkit
The toolkit includes a photo frame. Consider inserting your team member’s photos and or quotes related to safety and place on your social media page or just around your building. (photo frame example provided). Use the hashtag #PSAW2022
General Education and Background Resources:
- CDC: Show Me the Science: Learn How Clean Hands Count to Protect Patients and Healthcare Providers
- CDC Antibiotic Resistant Germs in Hospitals: Information for Patients and their Families
- CDC Antibiotic and Antimicrobial Resistance Web page
- Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
- National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) 2022 Patient Safety Component Manual