Patient Safety Curriculum for Residents
NCPS began developing patient safety curriculum in the summer of 2002 with a group of volunteers from across the country, piloting and modifying content and methods.
The academicians and clinicians collaborated to improve the program via electronic communication and teleconferences, as well as attending “a summit meeting” in 2003.
Curriculum workshops are offered several times a year. During the two-day workshop, participants receive a number of resources to support future efforts:
- A complete tool kit that includes the workshop content.
- Teaching materials.
- Instructor’s guides.
- Ideas for implementation.
- Assessment tools.
NCPS also provides participants with continued mentoring on a wide range of education and patient safety issues.
A successful patient safety curriculum program is based on more than just teaching a series of modules. It is critical that instructors are committed to creating a culture of safety based upon a systems approach to problem solving which emphasizes prevention, not punishment.
Instructors must be able to deal with ethical and legal issues, conduct frank discussions with participants, and have a clear understanding of their facility’s operations. They must be also willing to make a long-term commitment to both their students and patient safety.
Involving participants in the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) process, though an exercise, is a key “hands-on” aspect of the curriculum program. The goal of RCA is to find out what happened, why it happened, and what can be done to prevent it from happening again.
To better understand patient safety, workshop participants are introduced to human factors engineering (HFE) principles. HFE applies what is known about human capabilities and limitations when designing products or processes.
Participants leave prepared to engage residents, nurses, pharmacists, and other allied health professionals in learning about patient safety.
Key laws, guidelines, and standards such as Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education core competency, are covered in the workshop.
It is particularly significant to health care in the United States that NCPS conduct this effort at the VA:
- Each year, more than 80,000 health professionals are trained in VA medical centers.
- Nationally, more than half of the physicians practicing today had some of their professional education while in the VA health care system.
The 500 attendees have come from over 72 VA hospitals and 45 university affiliates. Attendees have also hailed from 42 states and six countries:
- Canada
- Japan
- Netherlands
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- South Africa
The attendees (mainly physician faculty and patient safety officers) have used the training materials with residents in lectures, case conferences, teaching rounds, and special projects.
For instance, one project places residents in a “patient safety rotation,” where each spends two months working exclusively on patient safety issues.
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Patient Safety Curriculum
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National Center for Patient Safety