May safety behavior: ‘Head Before Hands’ technique
"Head Before Hands," also known as STAR, reduces your chance of having an unintended mental slip or lapse by more than a factor of 10.
At USA Health, the May safety behavior and tool of the month is STAR, also known as the “Head Before Hands” technique. STAR stands for Stop, Think, Act and Review.
“The acronym STAR gives us four steps to make sure that we use our head before using our hands — in other words, thinking before doing a task,” said Becky Pomrenke, M.S.N., RN, CNL, CNS, patient safety manager for USA Health. “The use of STAR reduces your chance of making an unintended mental slip or lapse by more than 10 times.”
STAR reminds us to:
- Stop: Pause for one second to focus your attention on the task at hand.
- Think: Consider the action you are about to take.
- Act: Concentrate and carry out the task.
- Review: Check to make sure that the task was done right and that you got the right result.
As part of the Safety Starts With Me initiative, USA Health emphasizes a safety behavior and tool of the month to be discussed and practiced at huddles and in departments across the health system.
