This week is National Patient Safety Awareness and we take a look at all the improvements Covenant has made to their Children’s Hospital and how they have empowered parents to speak up.
It is this week’s Covenant Children’s report.
“We want everyone who stays here to feel secure that they are safe in our environment.” Quality and Safety Manager Kim Mcauley takes safety very seriously. And patient safety has a different meaning than it used to have. “20 years ago it was just a oh well that’s the price of doing business. You’re going to the hospital you’ll probably get an infection. That’s not the way it is today. We try very hard to make sure that happens we measure it, we go around checking and making sure we’re holding each other accountable to make sure we are following that all the time…every day.”
Covenant has installed safety code panels where families might be for their security, front desk has signage and people are stopped and asked where they are going, scanners for nurses that are used to verify the right patient with the right medication and care cards in every room to encourage families to speak up. Maggie Gutherie is the Chair on the Family Advisory Panel but also a parent to a daughter who has spent many nights as a patient. Gutherie says it is important for parents to speak up and say I don’t understand or are you sure that is right or do you mind if I get a second opinion because it’s called practicing medicine for a reason. They are doing the best they can and no one is the same so you are your child’s biggest advocate. And if you can’t stand up for your child no one else will.”
Mcauley says they have made it super easy for families to be heard. “One of the things we need from patients and families is that they are part of our team too. So if they see something they are concerned about they need to speak up as well. If a nurse comes into a room and they don’t check the ID band we want them to feel free to speak up say hey, check my id band. These are our voice it cards so at any time a parent is not comfortable speaking up themselves in front of people they can email it. The card goes directly to Mcauley and she will send it to who ever it needs to go to.”
All the I’s dotted and the T’s crossed to achieve their goal of zero harm for patients.