EMS Forward

The links between organizational culture, patient and provider safety, and quality are nothing new, and many industries have generated highly reliable outcomes by addressing culture change.

“Culture,” in its simplest form, consists of the attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of a collective group of people. It shapes employee behaviors, decisions, and choices and is, therefore, a complicated but highly influential component of the safety equation.

Individual agencies and services tend to develop their own, highly unique cultures as a result of different employee experiences, varying management styles, and diverse geographic locations. Unfortunately, negative cultural impacts can lead to a breakdown of the organization’s overall mission, vision, and values which can lead to medical errors. A strong organizational culture will not only improve provider and patient safety, but also support employee retention, save costs, and reduce turnover rates. 

CPS believes organizations must make cultural changes to have a lasting impact.

Culture change is a transformative process and requires planning and direction. Your current processes, programs, policies, management styles, and more, currently impact your culture. While there is no checklist of tasks to ensure you achieve your cultural aspirations, consider the road signs on the map are points to explore more deeply.

Let the Center for Patient Safety help you identify where you are on the journey to organizational transformation. 

Patient and provider safety is important, but how can you establish a culture that encourages open reporting of adverse events and risky situations, yet holds people accountable in a just manner?  The challenge lies in distinguishing between a system that might create risks (or human error) which may result in a bad outcome, and reckless behavior that intentionally puts lives or organizations at risk.

The Center for Patient Safety is able to customize education for your leaders and staff after a culture assessment that is specifically designed for your organization based on the results from your assessment.

Expanding staff accountability should result in more conversations and improvement work around safety and quality issues within your organization. However, many states around the nation do not provide adequate confidentiality, or peer review protections, for EMS services and providers. A solution to overcome this barrier comes to you via participation with a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). As a PSO, the Center for Patient Safety offers federal-based confidentiality protection for your safety and quality improvement work. 

“EMS agencies can become members of PSOs and not only achieve protection of their own processes but also benefit from the collective knowledge and understanding provided by the PSO and its members.”
– The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT)

A valuable component of improving culture is a tool to measure it. 

The Center for Patient Safety has developed the only culture of safety survey specifically designed for First Responders with foundations from AHRQ's Surveys on Patient Safety™ which have been used worldwide in various settings for nearly two decades. 

Today's healthcare workforce is facing a multitude of challenges. Many adjust well to the demands encountered during a traumatic clinical event due to strong emotional defenses that carry them through and let them “get the job done.” Yet many times, the emotional aftershock (or stress reaction) can be difficult. Signs and symptoms of this emotional aftershock may last a few days, a few weeks, a few months, or longer.