Patient safety and human factors: action on leadership

Recent studies have indicated the kinds of strategic behaviours that senior managers in health care should engage in such as putting in processes to enable to staff to focus on safety; learning from high risk industries and espousing personal values that emphasise the importance of safety over other organisational goals (McKee et al. 2010).

Tools and interventions: Patient Safety Leadership Walkrounds

Senior managers and board members can demonstrate their commitment to safety by visiting workplaces. Structured visits can connect management with the realities of the frontline and provide the opportunity to address safety issues. These are called variously "Patient Safety Leadership Walkrounds" or ‘Executive Walk Rounds’ and have been shown to influence the nursing safety culture (Thomas et al. 2005).

Walkrounds are not one off events but form part of a cycle of improvement (Patient Safety First 2009). This Patient Safety First Guide gives guidance on preparation, the walkround and the follow up. It includes sample questions and examples of good practice.

References

These resources were last accessed on 25 March 2013. Some of them are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.

McKee L et al. (2010) Understanding the dynamics of organisational culture change: creating safe places for patients and staff, National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme (HS&DR project 08/1501/092), University of Southampton NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre (NETSCC) website.

Patient Safety First (2009) Leadership for patient safety: supplement 1. Patient safety walkrounds (PDF 377.9KB), London: Patient Safety First.

Thomas EJ et al. (2005) The effect of executive walk rounds on nurse safety climate attitudes: a randomised trial of clinical units, BMC Health Services Research, 5(28).  

Go to: Human factors - leadership.

See also information about other human factors and interventions.