By Megan M. Krischke, contributor

March 3, 2010 - While patient safety is top priority in the day-to-day routines of healthcare workers, Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW) gives medical staff and patients alike an opportunity to refine skills, learn something new and celebrate achievements and advances in patient safety. Sponsored by the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), hospitals and healthcare organizations across the United States are encouraged to participate in this annual event, March 7-13, 2010.

The theme for Patient Safety Awareness Week 2010 focuses on opening the lines of communication between patients and practitioners.

“A primary goal of this event is to improve relationships between patients and their caregivers and to educate and to empower patients to become active members of their healthcare teams,” explained Diane C. Pinakiewicz, president of NPSF.

“The foundation of safe, effective, efficient and quality healthcare is good communication,” said Pinakiewicz of this year’s theme: Let’s Talk: Healthy Conversations for Safer Healthcare.

To promote healthy conversations, NPSF urges providers to create safe environments where patients feel comfortable. Providers should use laymen’s terms rather than medical jargon, sit down to be at eye level with the patient and use visual models rather than just talking through a procedure. Providers need to be trained on how to incorporate new practices into their routines that address and improve patients’ health literacy.

As one of the founding members of NPSF, Virginia Mason Medical Center (VMMC) in Seattle, has participated in Patient Safety Awareness Week since it began eight years ago. The tragic death of one of their patients, Mary L. McClinton, due to a medical error in 2004 created additional motivation to enhance their participation in the awareness week. Every year beginning in 2005, at a ceremony held in McClinton’s honor, a team is recognized for their outstanding work in patient safety. This event is specifically held during PSAW.

Celeste Derheimer, RN, MBA emphasizes the importance of taking the time for procedural pauses in the midst of the fast pace of caring for patients.

“This ceremony and recognition program receives the number one rating from our staff and management for connecting to their work and the quality and safety goals of our organization,” remarked Celeste Derheimer, RN, MBA, administrative director of quality and safety at VMMC.

“This year’s theme of healthy conversations is so important. The Joint Commission reports that communication breakdowns are a primary cause for sentinel events. It increases the safety in an OR to include a procedural pause to recognize by name each person in the room,” explained Derheimer.  “We are busy and we are getting busier every day and it is easy to let the behavioral or softer side of what we do slide. We are good at the technical side, but can have trouble remembering how important the softer side is.”

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (NYC HHC) also participates in PSAW each year. The largest municipal health care system in the nation, NYC HHC, asks each of its facilities to select a patient safety champion. Champions can be individuals or teams that have done outstanding work in patient safety within their organization. The champions are honored at an awards ceremony during the annual March senior leadership forum on patient safety, one component of HHC’s PSAW events.

“Among this year’s awardees is the point-of-use medication labeling and storage systems team from Kings County Hospital Center. This team developed and tested the use of ‘peelable’ labels for high-risk injectables. Their system was recognized by The Joint Commission as a best practice,” said Mei Kong, RN, MSN, senior director of patient safety at NYC HHC

Each NYC HHC facility will host educational events and other activities in observance of PSAW.

“One of the steps we have taken to help create ‘Healthy Conversations’ is providing patients with what we call a palm card, because of its small size,” stated Kong. “The palm card may be used by our patients to record their vital health information, such as current medications and recent procedures, along with tips for asking providers questions about how to self-care.  The cards are available in the 12 languages most frequently spoken by our patients.”

The NPSF provides tools and resources on their Web site to assist organizations in the celebration of Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW), including materials for download such as the PSAW logo, patient-friendly resources, event ideas and access to “Ask Me 3” brochures and posters. A comprehensive toolkit is available for member organizations.

“Ask Me 3” is a patient education program of the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) that promotes the three questions patients should ask their providers:

1. What is my main problem?
2. What do I need to do?
3. Why is it important for me to do this?

“‘Ask Me 3’ is a health literacy tool,” explained Diane C. Pinakiewicz, president of NPSF. “Patients want to ask questions, but they don’t want to offend their care providers and they are sometimes afraid of saying the wrong thing. The posters outline three very simple but important questions that patients should always feel empowered to ask.”

“Ask Me 3” posters and brochures are available for download on the NPSF site. 

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