culator completes. It asks patients about allergies they have, confirms
the correct surgical site, rechecks that required paperwork is present
and complete, ensures the patient is NPO and makes sure needed
equipment and implants are in the OR.
Since rethinking and reemphasizing our hospital's culture of safety,
more near-misses have been reported, but fewer of them have result-
ed in patient harm. That means our staff is more aware of breaches in
safety policies, but fully engaged in using the checks we have in place
to ensure inevitable lapses don't result in adverse events.
A good start
Improving patient safety doesn't require a complete overhaul of your
policies and procedures, but it does demand reemphasizing basic prac-
tices that you should implement for a reason: they work. You can begin
to change your safety culture by sending your team on its way each
morning with a call to protect patients from harm. And if you're lucky,
like us here at LBJ, your facility's name rhymes with day.
OSM
Ms. Fisher (kathy.fisher@harrishealth.org) is the nursing program man-
ager of perioperative services and gastroenterology at Harris Health System
in Houston, Texas.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 3 3
