Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) held its first contest to raise awareness among staff about the critical role of sharing lessons learned from patient safety events, near misses and hazards reported in SLS (VCH’s version of BC PSLS).
“The Most Helpful SLS Contest” sought participation from approximately 800 Handlers across the organization with weekly prize draws of $25 Starbucks gift cards and five chances to win tickets to the 2016 Quality Forum held February 24 to 26, 2016.
The Winners Circle (left to right): Alison Urquhart, PCC (Vancouver Acute), Kara Thompson, PCC (Richmond), Judith Tarnow, PCC (Vancouver Community), Dr. Margaret MacDiarmid (VCH Board Member), Becy Seet, CNE (Coastal), Keira St. George, Clinical Coordinator (Vancouver Community)
“The contest was our way of recognizing SLS Handlers who inspire actionable change in our facilities,” says Darren Kopetsky, Regional Director, Client Relations and Risk Management. “We also thought it would be a good way to foster collaboration and strengthen connections across all care areas at VCH.”
“The Most Helpful SLS Contest was a fun way of engaging our Handlers and encouraging them to do complete follow-up of safety events and share their learnings,” says Terri Aitken, BC PSLS Coordinator.
Cindy Sellers, Manager, Acute Care (Coastal)
The top winner for Coastal was Cindy Sellers, Manager, Acute Care.
Judith Tarnow, Patient Care Coordinator, Vancouver Community, won the honor of the most helpful SLS for her report on a patient fall, which met all the contest criteria (timely and helpful), and promoted patient safety and better communication and information sharing among staff.
(left to right): Judith Tarnow, PCC, Jasmine McEachern, Clinical Coordinator, Jacoba Pukesh, PCC, Keira St. George, Clinical Coordinator (Vancouver Community)
Keira St. George, Registered Nurse, Vancouver Community, was thrilled when she heard she had won tickets to this year’s Quality Forum.
“The speakers were excellent and very energetic and motivating. I learned about change and quality improvement in healthcare and ideas for new perspectives on how to deliver quality care to patients. I’m very thankful for the opportunity to attend the 2016 Quality Forum!”
(left to right) Theresa McAusland, RCC, Emma Santos, RN, Hana Minarikova, RCC (Coastal)
Congratulations to all the winners!
Thank you for your commitment to patient safety.
(left to right): Kara Thompson, PCC, Joesphine Wong, CRN, Narinder Sandhu CNE (Richmond)
(left & top to bottom): Jill Kamensek, PCC, Angela Whitley, Technical Supervisor, Jamie McDowell, PCC, Jocelyn McCord, Nurse Coordinator (Vancouver Acute)
Tips for SLS Handlers!
To promote learning and improvement from events reported in SLS, remember:
- Locations & programs: Complete all fields including Medical specialty of the attending or admitting physician or MRP.
- Event overview: Ensure all information is accurate. Avoid using “other” in the Category fields. Verify the Degree of harm and include contributing factors (when possible).
- Follow-up: Enter as much detail as you can, including investigation activities, communication with the patient/family, ideas discussed with the care team and other programs involved, quality improvement actions taken, and recommendations to prevent a similar occurrence.
Related stories: