Safety Briefings Tool

​Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

 

Health care organizations use Safety Briefings to help increase staff awareness of patient safety issues, create an environment in which staff share information without fear of reprisal, and integrate the reporting of medication safety issues into daily work. Over time, Safety Briefings help organizations create a culture of safety, reduce the risk of medication errors, and improve quality of care. The tool includes step-by-step instructions for conducting Safety Briefings, a data collection form, and a pre- and post-survey to evaluate the effectiveness of the tool.

 

Background

Safety Briefings for patient care units were developed to increase safety awareness among front-line staff and to help develop a culture of safety. Like the safety briefings used in aviation and other industries, use of this tool incorporates discussions of safety into the daily routine, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In connection with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Idealized Design of the Medication System (IDMS) project, Patient Safety Collaboratives, Summits, and other programs, hundreds of health care organizations have tested this tool. Originally tested on hospital inpatient care units, Safety Briefings are now being used in other hospital departments such as pharmacies and post-anesthesia care units, and in other health care settings, such as home health care and long-term care facilities.

 

Directions

The Safety Briefing tool contains:

  • Overview
  • Background
  • Using the Model for Improvement to Test Safety Briefings
  • How to Conduct Safety Briefings
  • Safety Briefing Data Collection Sheet
  • Pre- and Post-Safety Briefing Evaluation

first last

  • Appoint a Safety Champion for Every Unit
    Communicating information about patient safety is an important responsibility that should not always fall to managers alone.
  • Conduct Patient Safety Leadership WalkRounds™
    Senior leaders wishing to demonstrate their commitment to safety and learn about the safety issues in their own organization can do so by making regular rounds for the sole purpose of discussing safety with the staff.
  • Conduct Safety Briefings
    Safety briefings in patient care units are tools to increase safety awareness among front-line staff and foster a culture of safety.
  • Develop a Culture of Safety
    In a culture of safety, people are not merely encouraged to work toward change; they take action when it is needed.
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