Learning Together, Leading Together: How One Johns Hopkins Hospital Team Earned CPPS Certification as a Cohort

On a Friday afternoon, eight patient safety colleagues at Johns Hopkins Hospital gathered for a standing meeting. They weren’t reviewing events or preparing reports. They were studying together.

The group was preparing for IHI’s Certified Professional in Patient Safety™ (CPPS) exam as a cohort. Over six weeks, they built a steady rhythm of shared learning and accountability that supported both their exam preparation and their work as a team.

When Linda Fair, Assistant Director of Patient Safety, realized there was budget available to support professional development, she suggested the idea to the team. The response was immediate.

“The CPPS certification was never a requirement for our roles, but it had come up in conversation a few times,” said Fair. “When I realized we had budget available near the end of the fiscal year, I put the idea out to the team. Almost everyone said yes. It really reflects how committed this group is to continuing education.”

The cohort included eight colleagues in varied but closely connected roles. They review safety events, analyze risks, and help connect what is happening at the point of care with organization-level priorities. That shared focus made pursuing CPPS certification together a natural next step. What stands out is not just that they did it, but how they approached it.

Each week, the group set aside time to study together. On Friday afternoons, they focused on one of the patient safety domains included in the CPPS exam. Everyone came prepared to work through practice questions and talk through the concepts as a group.

“We all enrolled in the self-paced review course and then scheduled six Friday afternoon sessions to align with the domains and the practice test,” Fair explained. “Everyone reviewed the material ahead of time. When we met, we focused on the practice questions, both those embedded in the modules and the ones at the end.”

The sessions were structured but not rigid. The colleagues asked questions openly, and revisited concepts until everyone felt confident. Just as important, the protected time gave them a chance to connect, compare perspectives, and support one another through the process.

“We genuinely enjoyed working together, and that made the study sessions even better,” said Shereen Jahed, Senior Program Manager, who participated in the cohort. “It was Friday afternoon, and people showed up ready to learn but also relaxed. We challenged each other with questions, and if someone didn’t fully understand something, we would follow up outside the session to reinforce it. It created a positive learning environment.”

As the final session approached, the group turned its attention to the CPPS practice exam results, using them as a tool for an honest assessment of readiness. “Our final session centered on reviewing our individual results from the full practice exam and reflecting on how prepared we felt,” Fair said.

Within weeks, team members began scheduling their exams, aiming to take them soon after the cohort study sessions ended while the material was still fresh. Studying together changed how the material came to life. Discussing concepts across the CPPS domains helped the team connect ideas to their own work, from event reviews to performance improvement efforts.

“As we started studying together, you could really see people’s strengths emerge,” said Erica Jesien, Patient Safety Specialist and cohort participant. “Someone who felt confident in a domain would naturally take on a coaching role, and that shifted from week to week. We applied real-life examples from our work, which made the content more relevant and easier to retain.”

Some of the deepest discussions came from areas that were less central to everyone’s day-to-day work. The measurement and performance improvement domain, in particular, required more time and reflection.

“We do a lot of safety work, but not all of us are as embedded in measurement,” Jesien noted. “We spent time working through concepts like variation and applying them to real projects we were working on.” Those discussions also created space to reflect on their own processes. “It gave us a chance to step back and think about how we approach event reviews and root cause analyses,” she said. “Those are conversations we don’t always have time for in our day-to-day work.”

Along the way, the group found ways to keep the experience engaging. Because the sessions were virtual, they experimented with how they showed up on screen and adapted to different study styles.

“We would change our screen layouts or settings, like sitting in a ‘bleacher’ view or an ‘aquarium,’” Jesien said. “It wasn’t a typical meeting.” They also discovered more about how each person worked best. “Some people were very structured and focused, while others were more relaxed,” she added. “That dynamic actually added to the experience.”

There were lighter moments, too. One shared decision became a running theme: no one would share when they had scheduled their exam. “At the time, it felt like the right approach,” Jesien said. “Looking back, it’s funny because we’re such a close team. When people started passing, we had these surprise celebrations throughout the month.”

When the results came in, every member of the cohort passed the exam. The achievement brought a strong sense of pride, not just in the outcome, but in how they had gotten there. 

At Johns Hopkins Hospital, where there is already a strong foundation in patient safety training, CPPS certification provided an additional layer of recognition.

“By the end of our internal training, we know we have expertise, but there isn’t always a formal way to demonstrate it,” said Fair. “CPPS provides that recognition. It shows that patient safety is a science and that we bring a unique set of skills and perspectives to this work.”

For the team, the experience did not end with certification. It extended the habits they built during those Friday sessions. “One of the most meaningful outcomes is that our journey didn’t end with the exam,” Fair said. “Now we’re focused on recertification. We’re tracking our continuing education units, attending webinars, and going to conferences together.”

“We’re all keeping up with our CEUs,” Jahed added. “We share opportunities we find and make sure everyone stays on track.”

The group is also looking ahead. Their interest in human factors, which sparked some of their most engaged discussions during the CPPS sessions, has led them to consider their next step. “A few of us recently completed a human factors course, and now we’re talking about pursuing the Certified Professional in Human Factors in Health Care (CPHFH) credential,” said Jesien. “There’s always something on the horizon.”

For teams considering CPPS certification, their advice is simple: be intentional about how you prepare. Setting aside dedicated time and learning alongside colleagues can strengthen both understanding and application.

What began as a six-week commitment has become something more lasting. It is a shared approach to learning, grounded in accountability, curiosity, and a collective commitment to improving patient safety.

Erica Jesien, CPPS, is a Patient Safety Specialist; Linda Fair, CPPS, is Assistant Director of Patient Safety; and Shereen Jahed, CPPS, is a Senior Program Manager at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Kristin Cronin is a Project Manager at IHI.

Photo by wavebreakmedia_micro

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