Educating staff, engaging patients theme of patient safety course
Monday December 3, 2007 -- Natalie Miller
Learn how to create a patient-safety culture through staff education and patient engagement at an upcoming session in the new year.

The aim of ‘Educating Staff and Engaging Patients in Patient Safety’ is to help healthcare providers build on a safety-first environment by getting staff and patients on board. Participants will hear from organizations that have made patient safety education and patient engagement top priorities, says the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA), which is offering the course.

The course is on Monday, Feb. 4, 2008 at the Marriot Toronto Bloor Yorkville, 90 Bloor St. E., Toronto. The course targets healthcare staff including directors of patient safety, directors of education, directors of risk management, chief nursing officers and patient relations staff.

The OHA says healthcare organizations are demonstrating a commitment to patient safety through the introduction of innovative patient safety programs and practices.

“Building system capacity to sustain this culture of safety requires ongoing and targeted patient safety education for senior leaders, healthcare providers and patients alike. Enabling healthcare providers with the skills and knowledge about patient safety is a critical component in building a culture of safety within the system and it is equally important that healthcare organizations engage and communicate with patients throughout the continuum of care.”

Patient safety is getting a national focus with The Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation’s introduction of two Required Organizational Practices (ROPs) requiring organizations to deliver education/training on patient safety to staff and to inform and educate patients about their role in patient safety. As well, the Canadian Patient Safety Institute has recently released a DVD series entitled ‘Delivering Patient Safety’. Segments of the DVD series will also be incorporated into the session.

For complete details and registration information, visit this link.