Patient Safety Awareness Week Spurs Process Improvement at Naval Health Clinic Oak Harbor

Photo By Patricia Rose | L-R Patient Safety Mgr. Sarah McComb, Infection Preventionist Michael Atkins, and Quality Management Dept. Head Dr. Spencer Turner are the team that spearheads the annual Patient Safety Awareness and Process Improvement Week activities at Naval Health Clinic Oak Harbor.  

OAK HARBOR, WA, UNITED STATES

03.15.2023

Story by Patricia Rose 

Naval Health Clinic Oak Harbor

Some studies suggest that as many as 400,000 deaths occur in the United States each year as a result of errors or preventable harm. Not every case of harm results in death, yet they can cause long-term impact on the patient's physical health, emotional health, financial well-being, or family relationships. Therefore, ensuring the safety of our patients is a primary focus of every staff member at Naval Health Clinic Oak Harbor (NHCOH).

Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW) is an annual education and awareness campaign for health care safety led by the National Patient Safety Foundation. To raise awareness and encourage the engagement of patients, families, and health care providers, NHCOH will participate in the 2023 PSAW Campaign (March 12-18, 2023). This year’s theme, “Be a Patient Safety Hero: Anytime, Anywhere – Always” seeks to advance important discussions locally and globally, and inspire action to improve the safety of the health care system — for patients and the workforce.

NHCOH has several programs already in place to ensure patient care is safe and our entire staff strives daily to enhance patient safety. We are very proud of our safety record, but we know there is always room for improvement. Which is why in recent years, we decided to make a Process Improvement Fair an integral part of our PSAW activities.

During the work week of 13-17 March, NHCOH will engage staff and patients through educational and awareness-building activities specific to patient safety. There will be daily activities to inspire knowledge and boost morale:

Tuesday will be “Medication Reconciliation Fun” day. Medication errors may occur if there is a discrepancy between what medication the medical staff think a patient is taking and what the patient is actually taking. Medication reconciliation is a process that compares what medications a patient is taking against their medical record for accuracy. Medication reconciliation prevents medication interactions, duplicate medication therapies and more to keep all patients safe.

Wednesday’s activity will focus on “Hand Hygiene Trickeries”. Avoiding infection transmission is important in preventing any type of contamination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that approximately one million deaths worldwide could be prevented with proper hand hygiene. There will be opportunities to learn hand hygiene facts and test your hand hygiene knowledge.

On Thursday, we will explore “Disparities in Healthcare”. While we have always recognized the impacts of disparities in healthcare, action has been taken to make this a new National Patient Safety Goal. This will be a day to educate why acknowledging disparities in health care is important and next steps NHCOH will take to ensure we are delivering high quality and equitable care. Staff and patients will have an opportunity to share the health care disparities they see at NHCOH so we can continue our focus to eliminate them.

The week’s activities will close on Friday with the much-anticipated Process Improvement Fair. Twenty-seven distinct submissions will be highlighted in the glass hallway in the main clinic building. We highly encourage our patients and staff to spend a few minutes reviewing these projects to see for yourself the great efforts put forth by your care providers.

As noted by NHCOH Commanding Officer Capt. Juliann Althoff, MD, “Patient Safety is truly a 365/7 effort, and is at the center of what we do every day. Patient Safety Awareness Week gives us the opportunity to educate our community about how they can help us improve safety, and to recognize the many great initiatives by our staff to ensure we keep every patient safe, every time.”

In addition to staff efforts, we also need our patients to play an active role when it comes to delivering safe care to all beneficiaries. NHCOH encourages all beneficiaries to be proactive with their health care. Being informed and involved will help lead to safer care.

• Date Taken: 03.15.2023
• Date Posted: 03.14.2023 16:58
• Story ID: 440392
• Location: OAK HARBOR, WA, US