Patient safety course declared a success
Monday October 1, 2007 -- Jason Thompson
Organizers of the inaugural Patient Safety Officer Course held this week in Toronto say the event was a success and expect the course to make return engagements.

Headed by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI), the course began Sept. 24 teaching healthcare professionals from across the country how to develop and implement patient safety programs within their organizations.

Dr. Susan Brien, CPSI’s director of operations for Quebec, Eastern Canada and Nunavut says interest in the course was overwhelming as more than 100 people applied for approximately 45 available spaces.

“What that tells us is that there is great interest in having a Canadian program that helps accelerate the training of safety experts within the hospital systems,” Brien says, adding there course will be offered again in the future for those who missed out.

The way the course was designed, Brien says it wouldn’t have the same impact if it was delivered to a larger group.

“It’s very active learning methodology that is used to teach safety officers. It’s not the type of course where you can have 100 people just listening to a lecture,” she says. “It was a good combination of physicians, nurses and others who hold the patient safety portfolio in their individual organizations.”

The course was made up of interactive workshops, case studies, team-building activities, networking, media skills training and coaching by patient safety leaders. Topics included patient safety management systems, high-risk clinical processes, and learning to recognize system-induced near misses.

The course’s content was developed from feedback received from Canadian graduates of a similar patient safety training course held in the United States and organized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).

In a HIROC story dated July 4, Brien said the American course costs about $10,000, a price tag most Canadian organizations can’t afford. This lead to the development of a course designed for the Canadian healthcare environment.

The Canadian version worked towards the same objectives but with added emphasis on practical skills and adult learning skills, Brien said in an earlier interview.

“There is a need for those who carry the patient safety portfolio within hospital organizations to have an opportunity to gain a lot of knowledge and skills and develop a network very quickly so they can get off the mark quickly in regards to developing safety programs in healthcare organizations in Canada,” she said.

For more information, visit www.patientsafetyinstitute.ca.