Patient Safety in Action: The I’M SAFE TeamSTEPPS® Checklist – An Exercise in Openness and Transparency with your Team
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (Apr. 14, 2016) -- During a General Quarters training exercise, Sailors assigned to Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford's (CVN 78) medical response team, simulates care and treatment for common injuries. This ship-wide general quarters drill focused on damage control and emergency responses and is a significant step in certifying the crew as they train to fight and take delivery of the ship.(U.S. Navy photo taken by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Matthew R. Fairchild/Released)
Recommended Content:
Patient Safety, eBulletin, Products & Services, Patient Safety Event Reporting, Patient Safety & Quality Academic Collaborative, Advancement toward High Reliability in Healthcare Awards Program
The connection between transparency and high reliability is one that touches many aspects of what we do as Military Health System (MHS) patient safety professionals. We strive to be transparent in the way we share information with our patients – working with them as partners in their care and informing them of what we do openly and visibly. We are also transparent about our MTFs progress towards high reliability so that we can continue marching towards our goal of zero patient harm with efforts such as the Patient Safety Culture Survey. Another way that we, as MHS patient safety professionals, can display transparency on a daily basis is by using tools such as the I’M SAFE TeamSTEPPSTeam Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) is an evidence-based teamwork system designed to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare. TeamSTEPPS consists of a collection of instructions, materials and tools to help drive a successful teamwork initiative from the initial planning to implementation through to sustainment. The system is designed to improve patient safety using a three-phase approach: Phase I Assessment: Facility determines organizational readiness; Phase II Planning, Training & Implementation: Facility “decides what to do” and “makes it happen;” and Phase III Sustainment: Facility spreads the improvements in teamwork performance, clinical processes and outcomes resulting from the TeamSTEPPS initiative.TeamSTEPPS Checklist.
Designed to help us determine our ability to perform safely, the I’M SAFE TeamSTEPPS checklist invites us to take an honest look at how we are performing so that we can create an environment that is safe for ourselves, our team members and our patients.
Not only can we use the I’M SAFE Checklist to assess and be transparent about our own condition but we can also use it to assess our team members’ ability to perform safely. The goal is to ensure that every one on our team is able to perform at the highest level.
As stated on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)’s website, I’M SAFE stands for:
- Illness: Am I feeling so bad that I cannot perform my duties?
- Medication: Is the medication I am taking affecting my ability to maintain situation awareness and perform my duties?
- Stress: Is there something – such as a life event or situation at work – that is detracting from my ability to focus and perform my duties?
- Alcohol/Drugs: Is my use of alcohol or illicit drugs affecting me so that I cannot focus on the performance of my duties?
- Fatigue: Am I tired? The effects of fatigue should not be ignored. Team members should alert the team regarding their state of fatigue. For example, saying “Watch me a little closer today. I only had three hours of sleep last night.”
- Eating and Elimination: Has it been six hours since I have eating or used the restroom? Often, we are focused on taking care of our patients’ basic needs that we forget or overlook taking care of our own needs. Not taking care of our elimination needs affects our ability to concentrate and stress us physiologically.
The I’M SAFE Checklist is one of the many TeamSTEPPS tools we can leverage at our facilities to continue moving towards high reliability and promoting an environment that is characterized by a spirit of mutual support, honesty and transparency.
Access the I’M SAFE Checklist and other TeamSTEPPS and learn more about the MHS's path towards high reliability.
You also may be interested in...
Showing results 1 - 15
Page 1 of 7
Technical Document
8/5/2016
This document provides guidelines for all interested parties who would like to submit an application package for the 2016 Advancement toward High Reliability in Healthcare Awards Program. The awards program recognizes those who have shown initiative and commitment to the development of systems and processes that will lead the MHS toward a better, safer, nationally recognized health care system that all MHS leaders and staff strive for each and every day and one that all patients deserve. Awards will identify efforts that progress the MHS on its journey of continuous improvement, in the areas of Patient Engagement, Healthcare Quality and Safety, and Improved Access.
Recommended Content:
Advancement toward High Reliability in Healthcare Awards Program, Patient Safety, eBulletin, Products & Services
Article
8/1/2016
Welcome to the August edition of the DoD PSP Treasure Chest! Each and every month, we will be sharing resources to help you execute your day-to-day patient safety activities easily and effectively. Please visit us often and get access to tools and information developed with you, our committed MHS patient safety champions, in mind! This month we highlight the following resources: Patient Activation Resource Guide, Ask Me 3® Brochure, On-Demand e-Learning Courses, and Facebook Page.
Recommended Content:
Patient Safety, eBulletin, Products & Services, Patient Safety Event Reporting, Patient Safety & Quality Academic Collaborative, Advancement toward High Reliability in Healthcare Awards Program
Training Material
7/14/2016
The Leadership Engagement Toolkit was designed to help healthcare leaders assess gaps in their safety culture, engage key influencers for change, set goals for targeted improvement, implement proven safe practices, and reinforce key behaviors to ensure high-reliability performance for improvement. There are two sets of evidence-based best practices (“strategies”): Executive Leadership and Frontline Physician Leadership. The practices focus on what the practice is, why it is used, and how to implement it. There is also a "How to Guide" that focuses on getting started, equipping leaders as coaches, and making and measuring progress.
Recommended Content:
Patient Safety, eBulletin, Products & Services, Patient Safety Program Toolkits & Guides, Patient Safety Event Reporting, Advancement toward High Reliability in Healthcare Awards Program
Article
7/1/2016
Welcome to the July edition of the DoD PSP Treasure Chest! This month, we highlight the SBAR toolkit, the Medical Team Performance Assessment (MTPAT) tool, the Patient Safety Learning Center (PSLC) and the Patient Safety Reporting (PSR) eLearning course. Each and every month, we will be sharing resources to help you execute your day-to-day patient safety activities easily and effectively. Please visit us often and get access to tools and information developed with you, our committed MHS patient safety champions, in mind!
Recommended Content:
Patient Safety, eBulletin, Products & Services, Patient Safety Event Reporting, Patient Safety & Quality Academic Collaborative, Advancement toward High Reliability in Healthcare Awards Program
Article
7/1/2016
Offering various ready-to-use tools, materials and resources, TeamSTEPPS can be tailored to address the specific needs of an organization to seamlessly incorporate its principles into all areas of a health care system. In fact, it is only by fully integrating the tools that TeamSTEPPS offers into our day-to-day activities that Military Health System (MHS) leadership, frontline staff and patient safety professionals will truly benefit from leveraging this methodology. A great example of this is the work and research that the U.S Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) conducted regarding the TeamSTEPPS Teamwork Perceptions Questionnaire (T-TPQ). Highlights of this work were presented at the 2016 National TeamSTEPPS conference this past June.
Recommended Content:
Patient Safety, eBulletin, Products & Services, Patient Safety Event Reporting, Patient Safety & Quality Academic Collaborative, Advancement toward High Reliability in Healthcare Awards Program
Article
7/1/2016
The 10th Annual National TeamSTEPPS Conference – an event designed to highlight strategies and techniques to effectively implement and sustain TeamSTEPPS in today’s ever-evolving health care environment – was held 7-10 June, 2016 in Washington, D.C. Welcoming over 700 health care industry professionals and experts, the National TeamSTEPPS conference spotlighted the value of TeamSTEPPS across clinical and non-clinical settings both in the civilian and military space. Addressing a wide range of topics – with over 30 presentations and workshops on subjects ranging from “TeamSTEPPS 101” to “TeamSTEPPS: The Vehicle to Drive your Metrics in the Right Direction,” “The Answer is in the Room: Using TeamSTEPPS to Problem Solve and Reinvigorate Struggling Teams” and “TeamSTEPPS in Times of Transformational Change” – the 2016 TeamSTEPPS National Conference provided attendees the ability to delve into the TeamSTEPPS framework and its application into all aspects of health care and patient safety.
Recommended Content:
Patient Safety, eBulletin, Products & Services, Patient Safety Event Reporting, Patient Safety & Quality Academic Collaborative, Advancement toward High Reliability in Healthcare Awards Program
Showing results 1 - 15
Page 1 of 7