Our follow-up education focused on reinforcing the concepts that were introduced during Dr. Leonard's presentations.  Our follow-up education has been targeted at the unit level, and our "Fast Talks" have been well received.  The “Fast Talks” are a way of providing multidisciplinary, individualized continuing education, and provide participants with ways that they can create and sustain a culture of patient safety and communication.  The topics are as follows:

 

• Structured Communication
• Psychological Safety & Assertion
• Critical Language

Click here for the educational materials used to teach during "Fast Talks."

When team members feel respected, they are more likely to voice a concern because they feel it is "psychologically safe" to speak up. A key component of improving communication - and making healthcare safer - is making healthcare settings psychologically safe for every team member to raise a concern at any time. This means that every healthcare member needs to demonstrate fundamental, non-negotiable respect for every other team member, every day. Another part of psychological safety is the use of appropriate assertion in which an individual speaks up with polite persistence until there is a clear resolution. It is used for clarification and common understanding.

 

For the educational materials used to teach psychological safety and assertion click here.

Critical language are key phrases that are understood by all team members to mean “stop, listen, we have a potential problem.”  One example of this may be “I need a little clarity.”  United Airlines® came up with the “CUUS” program, which is as follows:

 

I’m Concerned…

I’m Uncomfortable…

This is Unsafe…

I’m Scared

 

The goal of critical language is to allow providers to raise issues directly related to patient safety.

 

For the downloadable tools used to teach critical language click here.