Safety Huddles

Today we had our first Leadership Safety Huddle. Representatives from every department were asked to attend. It went very well. We had a chance to review:

- Serious safety events from the weekend
- Safety concerns for today and this week
- Good Catches: where we are doing well with safety

Everyone has a voice in safety - It is our expectation that each clinical and non-clinical area will follow-up with a Safety Huddle so every department on every shift of the week shares their concerns and solutions.

Here's some information on Huddles:

Daily Huddles:
A method to identify potential problems before they become reality.


Benefits of a Daily Huddle

- Awareness
- Problem Identification & Resolution
- Early notification of issues
- Culture of accountability for Safety
- Transparency

Our Top 3 Focus Areas:
1) Handoffs / Communication
(SBAR, 1:1 reporting on patient status when leaving/arriving with patient to patient care
areas)

2) Patient Identification
(Patient banding, specimen labeling and appropriate orders on patient’s charts)

3) Fall Assessments and Interventions
(Hourly rounding and Fall Prevention Policy enforcement)

I had a chance to round this evening. It started out when my relative asked me to visit a family member of a friend (patient number one). As I walked through the Emergency Department, one of our employees introduced me to their family as they now were a patient (patient #2). I proceeded to walk upstairs to visit the patient (#1) when one of our physicians shared his relative was in the hospital (patient #3). After seeing patient #1, I went towards patient #3 and you guessed it, another employee let me know she had a relative in the hospital (#4). I went over to see her relative and then completed my visits with patient #4. Whew...did you follow all that.

Within 60 minutes, I met 4 members of our community who were here for care and referred here for care. Each patient bragged about the exceptional and safe care they were receiving.

This is why I love what I do. Any one else doing similar safety huddles? Please share your story.