title: Nursing leaders' accountability to narrow the safety chasm: insights and implications from the collective evidence base on healthcare safety.
abstract: Challenges continue to exist in bridging the safety gap to ensure that consistent, high-quality nursing care is provided based on the best scientific knowledge available. This paper examines findings from nursing research presented at the symposium Advancing Nursing Leadership for a Safer Healthcare System, held in Toronto, Ontario in 2007. Four central themes emerged: (1) place the patient in safety; (2) generate a broader knowledge base on safety across the continuum of care; (3) create a safe culture and healthy work environment to mitigate current threats to patient safety; and (4) advance translation of evidence to practice at the organizational and clinical levels. The aim of this exchange of knowledge was to equip nursing leaders and their decision partners with evidence that can become a catalyst for mobilizing change in practice to address the safety chasm.
authors.affiliation: Nursing/Clinical Research, Scientist, Keenan Research Centre, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada. jeffsl@smh.toronto.on.ca
authors.forename: Lianne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jeffs
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Macmillan
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McKey
authors.forename: Ella
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferris
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007857:Leadership; D009718:Nurse Administrators; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015399:Nursing Research; D009864:Ontario; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D017751:Safety Management; D012956:Societies, Nursing