Patient Safety Specialist

Summary

The Patient Safety Specialist is responsible for collaborating with Chesapeake Regional Healthcare staff and Quality leaders to meet CMS/CRH quality and patient safety goals. The Patient Safety Specialist also performs causal analysis, manages safety alerts, and serves as a high reliability expert resource for staff, Leaders and Safety Coaches.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

These duties and responsibilities described below represent the general tasks performed on a daily basis; other tasks may be assigned.

• In collaboration with the Patient Safety Manager, assist with coordinating and managing the Safety Coach program

• Serve as a patient safety and high reliability resource to staff, leaders and physicians; serve as a subject matter expert regarding general patient safety, causal analysis, and action planning

• Collect safety stories using a 3-part structure for use at meetings and huddles

• Provide high reliability staff education and Leader education

• Assist with RCAs and ACAs as a team member or other designee; ensure appropriate actions plans are completed for any harm event as needed

• Assist with agenda planning and data preparation for the Patient Safety Committee as needed

• Co-Chair Nursing Peer Review Committee in collaboration with designed Nurse Manager; review assigned cases, prepare agenda and meeting materials, facilitate meeting, and manage follow-up items

• Serve as change agent to lead, facilitate and support clinical quality and patient safety improvement to reduce harm

• Work in partnership with clinical unit-based teams to customize and implement best practices and processes to achieve safety and quality goals

• Create and disseminate regular safety lessons learned through safety snapshots, safety stories, and safety alerts

• Support Leaders, hospital teams and committees in integrating a culture of patient safety processes and activities to incorporate into day-to-day operations

• Serve as an active and visible patient safety coach to frontline staff

• Create and coordinate recognition activities and/or safety awards as part of Safety Program

• Generates graphs and quality reports to share with stakeholders and designated Committees

• Collaborate with Quality department, Patient Safety Manager, Leaders, Medical Staff, and others to meet the established CRH Patient Safety goals

• Complete chart reviews for all Patient Safety Indicators not meeting benchmark and as needed for opportunity analysis

• Effectively manages assigned projects with a level of independence in performance of the role and/or solution of problems

• Actively participate as the department representative on designated multidisciplinary teams and Committees

• In partnership with the Accreditation Coordinator, assist with survey readiness activities

• Other duties as assigned to include coverage of essential departmental functions and services

• Support clinical operations and clinical initiatives as assigned

• Attend required hospital-wide orientations, meetings, and in-services

• Demonstrate a commitment to flexible work scheduling when necessary to ensure patient care

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Reports to: Manager, Patient Safety

• Supervises: None

• Responsibilities: N/A

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and Experience

• Minimum Required Education: Completion of an accredited Registered Nursing program, Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) preferred, experience in lieu of degree may be considered.

• Preferred Education: BSN

• Experience: 5+ years in clinical nursing, medical-surgical or critical care preferred Basic knowledge of concepts, practices, and procedures related to quality and process improvement functions and quality tools and methodologies, to include Casual Analysis activities.

Working knowledge of basic business software such as Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations

Applicants must be licensed to work as a Registered Nurse in the State of Virginia, and must obtain CPHQ or CPSS certification within one (1) year of hire.