2014 Patient Safety Awareness Week
COMMUNICATIONS TOOLKIT
HOW TO USE THIS TOOLKIT:
The materials in this toolkit are yours to adapt and use how you see fit in your hospital to raise awareness of the
importance of patient safety within your patient population as well as your surrounding community. Feel free to share
this toolkit with your hospital’s communications, marketing, and public relations teams.
CONTENTS IN THIS DOCUMENT INCLUDE:
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Sample news release
Sample social media posts
Other resources
ACCOMPANYING THIS DOCUMENT AS ATTACHMENTS ARE:
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An 11x17 format poster with eight safety tips for patient families when they are visiting the hospital. You can
add your logo to and feel free to distribute/display throughout your hospital
A flyer with the same eight safety tips for patient families for use/distribution as you deem appropriate
These documents can also be found on the SPS website and SPS SharePoint. If you choose to use any of the
materials, please let us know so that we can track the network hospitals who found this toolkit useful. We ask that
you inform us by email at ochsps@cchmc.org.
If you have questions or feedback as you use this toolkit, please feel free to contact the SPS team at
ochsps@cchmc.org.
Thank you for working with us to spread the safety message and keep all kids safe from harm.
2014 Patient Safety Awareness Week
SAMPLE NEWS RELEASE
Local Children’s Hospital Joins Peers Across the Nation to Offer Safety Tips
for Patient Families During National Patient Safety Awareness Week
March 1, 2013 – As National Patient Safety Awareness Week kicks off (March 2 – 8, 2014) [LOCAL
HOSPITAL NAME] is joining forces with children’s hospitals around the country to affirm the critical role
patient families play in making hospital stays as safe as possible for their children.
[LOCAL HOSPITAL NAME] is part of a national learning network—called the Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for
Patient Safety (SPS)—a first-of-its-kind effort by children’s hospitals across the country to improve patient safety.
Through transparent sharing of data, successes, and learnings, SPS is working to achieve specific goals to
reduce harm in pediatric hospitals across the country. Specifically, by year-end 2014, SPS hospitals will
work to achieve a 40 percent reduction in certain hospital-acquired conditions; a 20 percent reduction in
readmissions; and a 25 percent reduction in serious safety events. SPS began in Ohio in 2009 as a network of
eight hospitals. It has now expanded to 78 hospitals across the country, all focused on reducing harm by addressing
specific hospital acquired conditions and building a “culture of safety” within each hospital.
“We are taking steps to ensure that we provide the safest possible care in children’s hospitals, but there are
also things that families and patients can do to be part of these efforts. The family is the most critical part of
a patient’s caregiving team—so we are encouraging our patients and their families to follow some simple,
yet potentially life-saving, tips during National Patient Safety Awareness Week and every day that they visit
a children’s hospital,” said [LOCAL HOSPITAL CEO].
Tips for patient families include the following:
1. BE A PATIENT ADVOCATE FOR YOUR CHILD. Don’t be shy. Ask questions about your child’s
care, raise safety concerns you have, or ask the caregiver to double check their chart before they
act. Write down your questions to make sure the caregiver addresses them. You might say,
“Excuse me, I have a few questions before you start treatment, would you mind answering them,
please?”
2. YOU KNOW YOUR CHILD BEST. Share unique things about your child with caregivers that may
be important for your child’s overall care (i.e. they have a fear of animals or only like to eat food cut
in small pieces).
3. WASH. Wash your hands and your child’s hands when entering and leaving the hospital, your
patient room, the bathroom, and any treatment rooms (such as x-ray); and be sure to wash if you
have handled any soiled material.
4. ENSURE THEY WASH TOO. Since you are part of your child’s health care team, do not be afraid
to remind doctors and nurses about washing their hands before working with you—even if they are
5.
6.
7.
8.
wearing gloves. You might say, “Excuse me, I didn’t see you wash your hands. I’d like to be sure
everyone’s hands are clean. Please wash them before caring for my child.”
STAY CLEAN & DRY. If your child has an intravenous catheter or a wound, keep the skin around
the dressing clean and dry and let your caregiver know if it gets wet or loose.
WATCH FOR RED OR IRRITATED SKIN. If you notice any new redness or irritation on your child’s
skin, notify your child’s caregivers. Ask what steps can be taken to prevent harm to the skin.
KNOW THE MEDS. Ask for the names of the medications your child is receiving in the hospital and
how it is expected to help your child. Caregivers will check your child’s identification band before
giving a medication to make certain the correct medication is being given. If you don’t see this, ask
staff to double check that the medication is for your child. You might say, “Excuse me, that
medication is not familiar to me. Can you please double check it against my child’s chart?”
BE PREPARED WHEN GOING HOME. When your child is ready to go home from the hospital,
make certain you know what medications and/or treatments your child will need once home. Ask
what you should watch for that will require a call to your child’s doctor and which doctor to call if
questions come up. Also, ask when your child will need to follow up with a physician appointment.
More information about the SPS network and patient safety is available at http://www.solutionsforpatientsafety.org/.
The National Patient Safety Foundation has an online resource center with tips and tools for patients and their
families available at: http://www.npsf.org/for-patients-consumers/tools-and-resources-for-patients-and-consumers/.
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For more information, contact [NAME, TITLE, PHONE, EMAIL LOCAL HOSPITAL CONTACT] or Angela Krile for
SPS at 740-974-3948 or angela@krilecommunications.com.
2014 Patient Safety Awareness Week
SAMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
If you would like to spread the National Patient Safety Awareness Week message via social media, please feel free
to adapt and use the sample social media messages listed below.
When tweeting about your patient safety work, National Patient Safety Awareness Week or SPS, please use
the hashtag: #sharesafety
National Patient Safety Awareness Week Sample Social Media Schedule
March 2
Facebook: Today kicks off National Patient Safety Awareness Week. We are proud to be part of a national effort to
improve safety for pediatric patients in children’s hospitals. Learn more about this groundbreaking work! [Link to local
patient safety news release or www.solutionsforpatientsafety.org]
Twitter: It’s National Patient Safety Awareness Week. Read about our groundbreaking national patient safety work:
www.solutionsforpatientsafety.org #sharesafety
March 3
Facebook: Parents and families– did you know that there are things you can do to help your child have the safest
visit possible while in the hospital? We’ll be highlighting some tips all week! Today: BE A PATIENT ADVOCATE
FOR YOUR CHILD. Don’t be shy. Ask questions about your child’s care, raise safety concerns you have or
ask the caregiver to double check their chart before they act. You might say, “Excuse me, I have a few
questions before you start treatment, would you mind answering them, please?” [Link to flyer of all tips]
Twitter: Patient Safety Week Tip 1: BE A PATIENT ADVOCATE FOR YOUR CHILD [Link to flyer of all tips]
#sharesafety
March 4
Facebook: Want to help your child have the safest stay possible while in the hospital? There are some things you
can do as a family! For example, wash your hands and your child’s hands upon entering and leaving the hospital,
your patient room, the bathroom and any treatment rooms (such as x-ray); and be sure to do so if you have handled
any soiled material. And, be sure your caregivers wash too—even if they are wearing gloves. You might say,
“Excuse me, I didn’t see you wash your hands. I’d like to be sure everyone’s hands are clean. Please wash
them before caring for my child.” [Link to flyer of all tips]
Twitter: Patient Safety Week Tip 2: WASH YOUR HANDS & BE SURE OTHERS DO TOO. [Link to flyer of all
tips] #sharesafety
March 5
Facebook: Another patient safety tip for families: Ask for the names of the medications your child is receiving in
the hospital and how the medication is expected to help your child. Caregivers will check your child’s
identification band before giving a medication to make certain the correct medication is being given. If you
don’t see this, ask staff to double check that the medication is for your child. You might say, “Excuse me,
that medication is not familiar to me. Can you please double check it against my child’s chart?” [Link to flyer
of all tips]
Twitter: Patient Safety Week Tip 3: KNOW YOUR CHILD’S MEDICATIONS. Caregivers should check your
child’s armband before administering [Link to flyer of all tips] #sharesafety
March 6
Facebook: Parents and families– your visit to the hospital can be as safe as possible by following a few simple tips!
It’s National Patient Safety Awareness Week, so check out this flyer with more information. [Link to flyer of all tips]
Twitter: Your visit to the hospital can be as safe as possible by following a few simple tips. Learn more [Link to flyer
of all 8 tips] #sharesafety
March 7
Facebook: If your child has an intravenous catheter or wound, keep the skin around the dressing clean and dry and
let your caregiver know if it gets wet or loose. During National Patient Safety Awareness Week, we want to help our
patients and families be as safe as possible while visiting our hospital! [Link to flyer of all tips]
Twitter: Be sure the skin around your child’s dressings are clean and dry while in the hospital. Learn more safety
tips: [Link to flyer of all tips] #sharesafety
March 8
Facebook: You can help make your visit to a hospital safer! Learn more from the National Patient Safety Foundation.
#sharesafety http://www.npsf.org/for-patients-consumers/tools-and-resources-for-patients-and-consumers/
Twitter: You can help make your visit to a hospital safer! Learn more from the National Patient Safety Foundation.
#sharesafety http://www.npsf.org/for-patients-consumers/tools-and-resources-for-patients-and-consumers/
2014 Patient Safety Awareness Week
OTHER RESOURCES
The links and information below might be helpful to you in preparing materials and information for Patient
Safety Awareness Week and beyond. Feel free to use any and all information that you find relevant for your
patient population.
National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF):
 The Patient Safety Week section contains links to promotional and educational materials, as NPSF
is the leader of the national effort around Patient Safety Awareness Week.
 Ask Me 3 is a patient education program designed to improve communication between patients
and health care providers, encourage patients to become active members of their health care
team, and promote improved health outcomes.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality:
 Guide to Patient and Family Engagement in Quality and Safety includes four strategies for
engaging families and patients in safety and quality.
 Guide to Medical Error Prevention contains 20 tips for patients to help prevent errors in their care.
 Patient Primer on Rapid Response Systems helps families understand why Rapid/Medical
Response Teams are created and how they work.
Josie King Foundation:
 The Patient & Family Resource Center on the Foundation website contains tips for a safe stay in
the hospital and links to various resources and websites related to patient safety.
Safe Care Campaign:
 The Safe Care Campaign website includes free posters and educational videos on a number of
hospital-acquired conditions and safety initiatives.
The Joint Commission:
 The Speak Up: Prevent Errors in Your Child’s Care brochure is a free resource to download and
print that provides parents with important information about preventing medical errors for their
child.