National Patient Safety Awareness Week – I’m In

Each year the National Patient Safety Foundation designates a “National Patient Safety Awareness Week.” For those of us who work in safety and are devoted to or consumed with the topic, it may seem unnecessary or redundant – if this is our professional life, why focus on it for a week when we already do so every day? Why do extra work? I’m a former skeptic, but I now believe that there are some really good reasons to focus, and also that there is no ‘extra’ work required:

First, it’s an opportunity to take inventory of what we are doing. There are seemingly endless opportunities for improvement and there is always more that we can and should be doing. When we are rushing about madly, even with good intent, it is difficult to think clearly about what all those things are, and we lose track. Use some time before PSAW to take inventory of what you are doing to promote safety. Keep it simple: just make a list of everything going on.

Second, it’s an opportunity to evaluate, prioritize, and refocus on what is important. Granted, in safety everything is important; but perhaps you’ve made and maintained gains in an area, and now can turn some energy to an aspect that has been neglected. Maybe you can revisit something fundamental that hasn’t had much attention lately, and redirect or leverage some resources. What hasn’t worked, despite your best efforts? If it’s still an important challenge, use the time to check in with your colleagues in the community. Or it might be time to let go of something. It’s hard to let go of anything when everything seems important.

In addition, Patient Safety Awareness Week is an opportunity to get creative…. If you’ve been thinking about trying something wild (as wild as we get in safety, that is), try it for the week of March 6-12, 2011. Think of it as a rapid-cycle improvement exercise. If it doesn’t work, you can abandon it after a week and say (truthfully) that it was an experiment during PSAW. If it worked, great – carry on!

Next, it is an opportunity to join the rest of our communities — local, regional, and national — in focusing on one theme for one week. In 2011 the theme is “Are you In? Involved, informed, invested.” Think about how what you are doing supports that theme, and use the materials and resources you already have to get that message out to your colleagues, patients, staff, leaders, and others. Our combined energy will increase visibility and generate new ideas, partnerships, and participation. For example, if you have sought in vain to recruit consumer advisors in your organization, this might be the time to try again.

Finally, spring is the season of growth, rebirth, and emergence from the darkness of winter. Take this timely opportunity to recognize your work and thank and acknowledge all your partners in safety. We are truly all in it together.

Thoughts? Share with me here. Miriam Marcus-Smith, Program Director, WPSC