title: Safety First initiative helps hospital cut safety events by 50%.
abstract: Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center's Safety First Every Day initiative has resulted in a 50% reduction in serious safety events, declines in falls with injuries and infections in intensive care units, and an increase is safety occurrence reporting. All employees go through a four-hour safety training program that focuses on creating safety awarenees all day, every day. Employees who report safety breaches and work to correct them receive a gold pin awarded by the hospital's chief executive officer, who presents the pin at the employee's work site. The hospital has developed an Early Warning System which combines clinical expertise and technology to identify patients whose condition is deteriorating before they become worse.
mesh_terms: D019090:Case Management; D006739:Hospital Administration; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D015279:Organizational Culture; D017751:Safety Management; D014768:Virginia