In addition to ongoing patient safety procedures, such as checklists and reminders, a patient safety professional could serve as a resource as well as help achieve patient safety goals, the authors said. They envision the patient safety professional as an advanced practice registered nurse, who can help determine patient safety risks and develop and implement patient safety and quality improvement programs in addition to other duties.
The authors supplement their suggestion with real-life vignettes of one patient safety professional hired at an unnamed hospital. They also cautioned healthcare organizations to carefully evaluate the value of a patient safety professional before hiring one onto the medical staff.
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