1 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9
I
f you want your staff to
relay safety concerns to
you, you need to make it
easy for them to report what
they see. No one's going to fill
out long, detailed forms. You
also need to stress that your
goal isn't to lay blame, but to
prevent harm. Our near-miss
reporting form — we call it a
"Performance Improve-ment
Opportunity Form" to give it a
positive spin — does both. (You
can download it at outpa-
tientsurgery.net/forms.)
It only takes a few minutes to
fill out. Staff simply slap on a
patient sticker, note the date and time of the event, and then
describe the concern in as much or as little detail as they'd like.
They have the option to sign the form or submit it anonymously.
Once we receive the form, the risk manager (me) or the administra-
tor follows up. We go into the daily huddles, audit the charts and
determine what to change, if anything. The forms sometimes even
lead to formal risk-cause analyses.
Barbara J. Holder, RN, BSN, CAPA
Andrews Institute Ambulatory Surgery Center
Gulf Breeze, Fla.
bholder@andrewsinstitutesc.com
SEE IT, SOLVE IT
Encourage Staff to Report Safety Concerns
• EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS You can uncover vulnerabilities and
process gaps by making it easy for staff to report potential safety
risks.
Andrews
Institute
Ambulatory
Surgery
Center
