Culture

Patient Safety Planning Tools / Culture

Foster a collaborative culture

Everyone in the organization plays an important role in protecting patients and it takes work to ensure that all staff feel they can report mistakes or voice safety concerns knowing they will be heard and not punished (barring negligence or misconduct). This is the cornerstone of an environment — or culture — that prioritizes patient safety.

Know these six principles of a robust patient safety culture 

1. The organization considers safety a necessity.
2. Clear and open communication among staff is fostered.
3. A constructive learning system develops; information and data is used for learning not for judgment.
4. Teamwork is valued.
5. The organization elicits and is responsive to input from patients and families.
6. Staff members feel comfortable raising concerns with anyone at the organization, including with a supervisor or other leader.

Lay the groundwork 

• Include patient safety on the agenda at every staff meeting. Offer praise for recent successes and discuss concerns or suggestions to improve.
• Hold small group conversations about teamwork and communication at your organization.
• Discuss proposed changes to office or unit processes with all staff so they know the purpose and can contribute ideas if there are safety concerns with the new approach.
• Assess your organization’s current culture and performance. Use a tool such as the Safety Attitudes and Safe Climates Questionnaire (SAQ):
  • Complete the first 13 questions of the short form to measure teamwork and safety and evaluate using the scoring key.
  • For more about the SAQ, see the Center for Healthcare Quality and Safety.

Build for sustainable collaboration

• Hold open, ongoing conversations about patient safety. Talk with staff in all areas or functions about close calls and adverse events.
• Actively solicit input from patients and families and provide avenues for them to speak up about safety concerns. 
• When recruiting new staff members, look for individuals suited to a collaborative culture. This will also help with retention.

Focus on finding safety issues in processes or the environment 

• Remember the goal is to improve systems to protect patients, not find an individual to punish when something’s gone wrong.
• Encourage staff to speak up about concerns and to be receptive to feedback in return. Always thank staff for raising concerns to reinforce the important of bringing attention to potential issues.
• Develop plans for how your organization will handle instances where individuals engage in criminal, negligent, or intentionally unsafe behavior.

This page was adapted from the Betsy Lehman Center's Patient Safety Navigator. Visit the Navigator website to learn more about analyzing adverse events, communicating in the aftermath of serious harm, and reporting medical errors to state and federal agencies.