Author(s): Paige Arndt, RN, BSN, CPPS, CPHQ
Patient Safety & Quality Improvement Specialist - St. Louis Children's Hospital
As a patient safety & quality Improvement specialist, I have helped lead many multidisciplinary quality improvement projects since 2018. In 2019 I received my CPPS certification. This past year, I was tasked to enhance a safety coach program and trial it in our NICU. From there, it has successfully been taught to 50 staff members from seven different disciplines in just five months. We aim to train over 100 safety coaches in 14 disciplines this year. I was also the first of our safety specialists to receive the CPHQ certification last year and will be offering study sessions to the Q&S team members who would like to obtain their certification as well.

Karen Looper, BSN, RN, CPN
Manager, Patient Safety/Quality Improvement - St. Louis Children's Hospital
Karen Looper, BSN, RN, CPN, is a Registered Nurse at St. Louis Children's Hospital and is the current manager of the Patient Safety/Quality Improvement department. She has worked at SLCH for the past 24 years as a member of the Hematology/Oncology division and the Patient Safety/Quality Improvement department. In her current position as Patient Safety/Quality Improvement manager, Karen and her team support the entire hospital in promoting a culture where all staff feel safe to speak up to prioritize the importance of patient, family, and staff safety. Involvement in many collaboratives across pediatric hospitals allows her to network with leaders and provides a platform to share ongoing progress at SLCH. Karen serves as a resource for many Preventable Harm teams, as well as a leader for the hospital wide Safety Coach Program, developed to support a culture of safety and educate team members on expected safety behaviors.

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Competency Domain: Patient Safety

Description: St. Louis Children's Hospital is a member of Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS), a network of pediatric hospitals working together to eliminate serious harm. SPS identified that a safety coach program is a crucial component of the culture of safety. Any increase in patient population requires an inter-professional approach to prioritize patient safety. In this workshop we will demonstrate how a culture that prioritizes safety as the core value, can impact the care that is provided to patients. This interactive session will utilize several teaching methods including didactic, skill stations, and role playing that includes problem-solving. Problem: St. Louis Children's Hospital is working to eliminate patient harm. A a safety coach program (SCP) is a crucial to the culture of safety and empowers individuals to speak up for safety. An assessment of the SCP at SLCH established in 2019 showed a need for increased engagement and growth. Measurement: Our SMART Aim for the enhancement of the SCP was to train 25 staff from three disciplines across SLCH b y 12/31/23. Our Global Aim is to increase the use of error prevention tools (EPTS) and reduce serious safety events (SSEs). We used PDSAs and surveys to measure success. Analysis: PDSA cycles were conducted for overall program enhancement. The first cycle included NICU Leadership establishing curriculum, us of error prevention tools (EPTS) and feasibility for spread. Magnet surveys were used before implementation and at 1, 3 and 6 months after training to measure NICU nurse's response safety in the unit. Implementation: Subsequent cycles focused on teaching methods and feedback for scenario development. Facilitators engaged needs specific to attendees areas of expertise and designed a process that started with frontline leader education, feedback, and buy in. EPT use and feedback are essential to ensure safety and establish effective communication. Results/Discussion Our goal was exceeded by training 51 staff members from seven different disciplines. We are currently expanding training to front-line staff who have been in their role for at least one year. We will measure SSE reduction, use of EPTs via audits, celebrate successes, promote and engage new coaches.

Evaluation: Complete Poster Evaluation