Safety rounds emphasize issues for all staff
The culture of safety that is promoted throughout the same-day surgery program as well as other departments at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, VA, is most evident in the monthly environment-of-care rounds.
"We make rounds with a checklist to ensure that all areas of our unit are safe for patients and employees," says Iris J. Lundy, RN, BSN, staff development educator for the outpatient surgery/diagnostic unit. [To see a copy of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital’s safety checklist, go to www.same-daysurgery.com and click on the "toolbox." The checklist is under the heading of "Safety." Your subscriber number on your mailing label is your user name. Your password is sds (lowercase) plus your subscriber number (no spaces.)]
The five-page checklist covers categories such as fire safety, general safety, hazardous waste and materials, infection control, sharps, and emergency management, she says. Some of the specific items for which employees check include properly closed smoke or fire doors, staff members wearing proper identification, covered clean linen, and locked anesthesia carts, she adds.
Before the safety coach program, rounds typically were conducted by a team coordinator and the same-day surgery manager, Lundy says. Now that safety is recognized as a responsibility of all staff, all staff members take turns conducting the safety rounds, she says. "One or two staff members conduct the safety rounds each month, and sometimes they are invited to conduct safety rounds in another department as well," she adds.
Instead of viewing the rounds as yet another task to complete, Lundy always has more than enough staff members volunteering to conduct rounds, she points out. Employees are eager to participate for several reasons, Lundy says.
"Not only is it a break in their normal routine, but everyone says that they learn something new after conducting a safety round," she adds.
Source
For information on safety coaches, contact:
• Iris J. Lundy, RN, BSN, Staff Development Educator, Outpatient Surgery/Diagnostic Unit, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, 600 Gresham Drive, Department 3RP, Norfolk, VA 23507. Telephone: (757) 668-3045. Fax: (757) 668-2483. E-mail: [email protected].
The culture of safety that is promoted throughout the same-day surgery program as well as other departments at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, VA, is most evident in the monthly environment-of-care rounds.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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