“STEPPING IT UP”

UF&Shands 2011 Patient Safety and Quality Retreat

By Debbie Lynn, R.N., M.S.N.
QUALITY AND ACCREDITATION DIRECTOR

Our second annual UF&Shands Patient Safety and Quality Retreat took place on July 9, with the theme “Stepping it Up.”

An impressive attendance featured 162 leaders, of whom 40 percent were UF faculty physicians. The presentations and work group sessions inspired 92 percent of participants to rate the retreat overall as “excellent” or “very good.” And 96 percent rated the importance of the retreat to their job as “excellent” or “very good.” Also, there were many positive comments from the attendees describing the enthusiasm, excellent collaboration and openness of communication experienced in the retreat sessions.

“Collective mindfulness is a safety culture feature that exists when everyone – individually and together – is acutely aware that even small failures in safety protocols or processes can lead to catastrophic adverse outcomes,” said Michael Good, M.D., UF College of Medicine dean, speaking to attendees.

Kayser Enneking, M.D., UF COM chair of the department of anesthesiology and Shands Board Quality Committee chair, explained our quality journey.

“We need to move our system from one with pools of excellence driven by heroes, to one that reliably provides the right care to the right patient at the right time, every time,” Enneking said. She said our next stop on the journey is “high reliability: consistent performance at high levels of safety over long periods of time.”

The priorities identified during the retreat, along with those from the Board Quality Committee, were used to finalize the UF&Shands FY12 Quality and Safety Big Aims.

Thomas Beaver, M.D., UF thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon, and Anne Meiring, Quality Management director, participated in a retreat breakout session.