Hospitals learning safety lessons from aviation (with their L&D staff)

[Guest guest]

A surgical team is about to wrap up a procedure. A scrub nurse notices that a sponge is missing. She hesitates, wondering whether to say anything. The surgeon is well known and highly regarded. Does she speak up and avoid a medical mishap? Aviation safety training may hold the answer.ton Northwestern Healthcare is one of several hospitals taking a cue from the airline industry, training its OB/GYN staff in safety techniques used by cockpit crews. The step is intended to reduce hospital errors by eliminating the hierarchy in health care and improving staff communication.

When investigators listened to black-box recordings after aviation accidents in the late 1970s, they realized that part of the problem was people not speaking up in the cockpit. Human error is the culprit in many airline accidents, the same as with medical errors. And the resulting toll is heavy, with a 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine estimating that as many as 98,000 patients die annually from preventable medical errors. Some estimates are even higher.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-0701090256jan09,1,6416774.story?coll=chi-health-hed & ctrack=1 & cset=true

Gail Neuman RNC CPHW SNP LNCstudent nurse practitioner and student midwifecertified high risk OB/legal nurse consultantPerinatal Nurse AssociatesNotary Public/Certified Loan Signing AgentPrePaid Legal Sales AssociateSanta Ana, CA