Giveaways, prizes and recognition: Previewing Patient Safety Awareness Week 2023

Next week, from March 12-18, our organization will celebrate Patient Safety Awareness Week. Created by the Institute for Health Care Improvement, this annual event is intended to encourage discussions and inspire action to improve safety for patients and staff.

This year’s theme is “Better Together.” We all have a role to play in patient safety, and it’s important to remember that a safe health care environment is better accomplished through teamwork.

Throughout the week, we recognize patient safety and its crucial role within our organization and across the country. It’s also an opportunity for us to consider how to support safety and quality initiatives within our own BASE strategic priorities.

Here are some ways you can join the discussion, learn more about safety and make a difference during the week: 

• Talk with your leaders and team members about patient safety in huddles, while rounding and in staff meetings.
• Share and listen to safety and reliability stories.
• Recognize a colleague for their safety and quality efforts using the Michigan Medicine Recognition Site.
• Show your support for patient safety with our Zoom backgrounds, which can be found here and here.
• Complete a Patient Safety Awareness Week K-Card to be entered into a drawing for a gift card.

Enter the KCard contest

Kamishibai cards (KCards) are a tool used in daily rounding that provide real-time data regarding patient safety and compliance issues, with the purpose of preventing patient harm from hospital-acquired conditions and infections.

The Patient Safety Awareness Week KCard focuses on high reliability and quality improvement through five different safety activities that everyone can complete during the week, whether working on-site or from home. This exercise illustrates how KCards are used to monitor compliance in a process when all elements are equally important and required for success.

To qualify for a prize:

• Visit the Qualtrics survey link here to access and review the Patient Safety Awareness Week KCard.
• Complete all FIVE activities and then check ‘yes’ in the KCard.
• Completed KCards must be submitted by Monday, March 20. (Note: Only one submission per person.) 

Winners will be selected at random. If you are selected, you will be contacted using the information provided within the survey.

The Wrap podcast

The latest episode of The Wrap employee podcast is all about Patient Safety Awareness Week events at Michigan Medicine. Listen below:

For more resources on safety and quality, visit the Quality Department website or the Path Forward website.