Workplace safety became more apparent during the COVID pandemic as an essential component to support effective and safe care provision. This session will introduce the AHRQ Workplace Safety Supplemental Item Set for use with the Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS®) Nursing Home Survey that examines staff perceptions of workplace safety. Background on the importance of workplace safety in nursing homes, results from a pilot test in 48 nursing homes, and one organization’s experience with the survey will be shared.

This virtual workshop will explore tactics to ensure medication safety, including strategic planning, risk assessment, and Just Culture principles.

The AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS®) Hospital Survey Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture ask health care providers and staff about the extent to which their organizational culture supports patient safety. The SOPS Workplace Safety Supplemental Item Set for Hospitals was designed for use in conjunction with the AHRQ Hospital Survey to help hospitals assess the extent to which their organization’s culture supports workplace safety for providers and staff. This data analysis found “Protection From Workplace Hazards” as the highest-scoring composite measure and “Addressing Workplace Aggression From Patients or Visitors” as the lowest-scoring composite measure. An average of 34% of healthcare providers and staff experienced symptoms of “Work Stress/Burnout” which represents a 4-percentage point increase from the 2021 pilot study results.

Safety challenges in anesthesiology and perioperative care are high-risk situations. This segment of a reoccurring special section covers strategies for improvement such as use of databases to monitor safety, expansion of safety improvement efforts to perioperative care, and cognitive aid use enhancement.

Instituting a culture of safety is fundamental to ensuring patient and staff safety. The AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS®) Hospital Survey is a validated survey that has been widely used to assess patient safety culture since 2004. The 2022 report includes data from 400 hospitals. The highest “percent positive” composite measure scores included both effective teamwork and supervisor, manager, or clinical leader support for suggestions for improving patient safety, and addressing patient safety concerns. Overall, when asked to rate their unit/work area on patient safety, 67 percent of respondents rated their unit/work area as “Excellent” or “Very Good.”