Trinity Hospital of Minot is updating employees on the Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goals with a series of educational activities next week. Patients can also visit the Patient Safety Fairs to learn more about how Trinity is putting the Joint Commission's safety goals into action.
"We try to make it a fun learning atmosphere, and this year we're doing an Irish theme. Involving patients in their care needs to be built into our processes, and it helps to show how it all works," said Shelley Semrau, director of staff development for Trinity Health.
"At the fairs, we'll have posterboards that describe what we're doing to implement the goals. For staff, these are things that they do every day, and the fair is just there to promote the safety aspect of it," she added.
Some of the 2009 national patient safety goals include improving staff communication, using medications safely, and identifying patients correctly.
"For improving staff communication, when we have a verbal or a phone order, it's already built into our processes that we read it back and verify it. For identifying the patient, we use an armband and ask the patients to verify their name," Semrau said.
"Some of these things, the patient will notice. We also want to encourage patients to be involved in their care. If they have a question about something or they are uncomfortable with something, we encourage them to speak up," she added.
The week's activities will begin Monday with caregivers sharing a patient safety tip with their patients. Patient Safety Fairs will be held on Tuesday at the Trinity Hospital Skywalk from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the north end of the Town & Country Center; and Thursday at the Health Center-Medical Arts Skyway from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. On Friday, employees will show support for patient safety by wearing green.