The 20th Medical Group celebrated National Patient Safety Awareness Week at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, March 11-17 with events such as a poster contest and trivia.
The annual celebration aims to provide medical providers an opportunity to review patient safety practices and encourage patients to ask questions and speak up if they are unsure about a procedure.
“Since we only celebrate once a year, we really try to inform staff that this is a key week in being proud about how we apply patient safety,” said Jeff White, 20th MDG patient safety program manager. “We look at how we empower our patients and how we educated our staff.”
Medical staff also listened to a speech from their commander during a cake-cutting ceremony and some attended a safety coach orientation to help spread, monitor and maintain the culture of safety within the clinic.
Throughout the year, medical staff use patient identifiers and acronyms such as CARE: clear communication, attention to detail, respectful teamwork and exercise a questioning attitude; and STAR: stop, think, act and review to protect individuals from exposure to hazards such as receiving the wrong treatment.
White said using the acronyms causes an individual to pause during routine tasks, giving them an opportunity to recognize mistakes ahead of time.
“It’s about habit,” said White. “Maybe for instance, you’ve woken up early in the morning and went to the refrigerator to grab milk, but instead you grab orange juice, then instead of grabbing cereal you grab oatmeal. Your idea was to have milk and cereal but now you have oatmeal with orange juice. That’s why we stop.”
By reviewing patient safety, 20th MDG Airmen work to stay true to their motto of “providing trusted care” to Team Shaw Airmen and families.
“People are ultimately what makes up the mission,” said Airman 1st Class Tessa Tugo, 20th Medical Support Squadron laboratory technician. “If we didn’t have people we couldn’t fly planes, we couldn’t do any of the mission. Ultimately, everything stems from the patient’s wellbeing and their families need to be taken care of so they’re in the right mindset.”