‘Safety Starts With Me’: Time for training

As part of our Safety Starts with Me initiative, USA Health is requiring safety training for all USA Health employees over the next six months. The three-hour course is intended for everyone - physicians, residents, fellows, advanced practice providers, as well as clinical and non-clinical staff - and is to be completed by May 31, 2022.

“This training will teach people how errors occur and will give them techniques and skills for how to avoid and decrease errors,” said Rebecca Pomrenke, M.S.N., R.N., patient safety manager for USA Health. “This is a culture change in which we are striving to become a high reliability organization.”

Among the topics to be covered are harm in healthcare and at USA Health, how humans perform and make mistakes, professional communication, and the importance of speaking up for safety and protecting those who do.

Managers can register staff for a class by entering the employee’s J-number on this online registration workbook. Managers also may allow staff to sign up for training using the same link. Those who attended safety classes earlier this year will not need to participate a second time, Pomrenke said.

She pointed out that with thousands of employees needing training, it will be important to fill the 125 classes well in advance of the May 31 deadline. In addition, hourly staff who attend on an “off day” will need to clock in and out for training. Everyone will need to arrive on time and stay for the entire course to receive credit. Employees who cannot attend their scheduled training must call in to their department or be considered a no-show.

Earlier this year, about 180 health system leaders including physicians, program directors, department chairs and champions completed Universal skills training in preparation for the full rollout of the Safety Starts with Me initiative.

For more information, contact Rebecca Pomrenke at rpomrenke@health.southalabama.edu.