up when patients are in jeopardy and how well surgeons communi-
cate with other team members in the OR to how near-misses and mis-
takes are handled to the level of support management puts behind
safety initiatives. I've asked my staff and surgeons to complete the
survey annually for the past 4 years. The survey (osmag.net/RXb8dS)
has proved to be an invaluable tool because we dive into the results
instead of simply reading over the responses.
Assign and discuss
Creating and maintaining a culture of safety requires setting aside
time to communicate with your staff and surgeons about what a safe
culture is and what it looks like in practice. Permitting staff and sur-
geons to complete the survey during work time emphasizes that you
support its use and value their feedback. Administer the survey to specif-
ic departments — pre-op, the OR, post-op — and present staff with the
results in department-specific three-ring binders. Have each staff mem-
ber initial the binders to ensure they have read through the findings.
After everyone has read through the binders, schedule a staff meeting to
discuss the survey results. Review the responses to the survey's open-
ended questions and allow staff to clarify their remarks, add perspective
or expound on their insights. Reassure staff that all comments made in
the survey are confidential, even to leadership. These comments are
taken very seriously, and we encourage staff to provide additional feed-
back during the meeting. You'll learn a lot about how staff view your
facility's safety culture during those conversations.
Take action
This is perhaps the most important step in your efforts to
change your facility's culture of safety. The survey is a worthless tool
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Safety
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