I am currently working on two studies. First, I am conducting a study
here in Canada and the U.S. to query over 2,000 nurses working in
long-term care regarding their attitudes about the culture of safety
where they work. For example, what do nurses think about their
workplace with regards to safe staffing, supervision, support from
management when the nurse makes a mistake, and how often are adverse
events reported and investigated? A culture of safety promotes
communication with families, teamwork and resident-focused care. The
term is used to describe an environment that encourages communication
with the resident, or the resident's family, about medical errors or
unanticipated adverse events. There is also a commitment to investigate
adverse events to determine an understanding of what happened and to
determine what steps are needed to prevent a similar event from
happening in the future.
The other study I am currently working on
was funded by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute to examine falls in
long-term care settings. My research team and I are currently
collecting data in eight Ontario nursing homes to examine how well
nursing staff identify fall risk and carry-out fall prevention
activities. At the end of this study, we will also be collecting
information from nursing staff on how information regarding falls is
communicated between staff members. If we can improve the processes by
which nurses identify, implement and evaluate the management of falls,
it could ultimately result in less falls from occurring.