Hospitals Focus on Training Staff Members, Engaging Patients About Safety Issues

Pizzi has planned a similar poster board competition for this year's PSAW and hopes to receive more entries than the six she got in 2009. During the week, Pizzi and her partners visit each of Saint Clare's facilities and set up the poster boards in the lobby. Volunteers will work these poster board tables and hand out literature about the week to staff members and visitors.

Pizzi runs educational games during PSAW and has found that staff members look forward to these activities and have even come to her with ideas and concerns about safety practices. A favorite is a Jeopardy!-style PowerPoint game, says Pizzi.

In keeping with this year's theme of discussing safe healthcare practices, Pizzi says Saint Clare's is concentrating on the Universal Patient Compact, a document produced by the NPSF that focuses on the relationship between patients and caregivers.

"Sometimes we forget to include the patient in our healthcare planning and conversations," says Pizzi. "So it's really bringing that to the forefront for the staff and really [getting] them to embrace this as, 'We need to partner with our patients in a way to give them better care.' "

To read more about ways to celebrate Patient Safety Awareness Week, see the March issue of Briefings on Patient Safety.