With staff members as actors, a simple skit or videotape of a reenacted adverse event or near-miss can raise safety awareness and teach both staff and management valuable safety lessons. You can tell one true story or patch together real or plausible events to create a fictional composite. A commentary from the patient safety officer senior leader, or the people involved in the real event can be a powerful ending that reinforces the management’s non-punitive safety culture.
Tips
- Urge everyone involved in the event — including physicians — to contribute to telling the story.
- Allow people who are deeply uncomfortable to observe rather than participate.
- Encourage patients to participate; they can add tremendously to the message.
- Consider taking several real events and combining them into one fictional event with made-up names and dates.
- Videotape a skit version story, with staff volunteers as actors.
