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INFECTION PREVENTION
REAL CHANGE
It Pays to Empower Frontline Staff
O
ur safety program empowered teams at the unit level to
improve safety culture. Staff assumed responsibility for —
and thereby improved safety within — their environments.
We brought together 5 surgeons, 30 gastrointestinal nurses and sur-
gical techs, 6 CRNAs, 1 anesthesiologist, 2 PACU/post-op nurses, an
inpatient ward nurse practitioner, a senior executive, a safety nurse
coach and a National Surgical Quality Improvement Program nurse.
Each team member answered a 2-question survey:
• Please describe how you think the next patient will be harmed.
• Please describe how you think the next patient in the OR will get an
SSI.
The results of these surveys identified the initial areas of focus for
quality improvement, which were then championed by the colorectal
team.
What holds true across settings is that, to enact effective change, you
must engage frontline providers to identify issues and opportunities in
workflow, then work with administration to tackle them.
— Kevin Driscoll, CRNA
important to bring together both those who can identify needed
changes and those with the power to change. Pre-op got their convective warming devices. We also worked with the surgeons to get agree4 8
O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | D E C E M B E R 2012
