In Depth: Resident/Fellow Learning and Working Environment – Part 1 of 6

| May 20, 2014 | Print Article

The institutional requirements were aligned to follow the six CLER focus areas. Over the next few months, we will take a look at each of the six learning and working environment requirements and provide some questions for you to think about in order to gauge how well you meet the requirement. This week we will take a look at patient safety.

III.B. The Sponsoring Institution is responsible for the oversight and documentation of resident/fellow engagement in:

III.B.1. Patient Safety:  the Sponsoring Institution must ensure that residents/fellows have:

Requirement:  III.B.1.a) access to systems for reporting errors, adverse events, unsafe conditions and near misses in a protected manner that is free from reprisal; and,

Questions to ask yourself:

  • Does your institution have a system that is available for residents to use?
  • Do your residents know how to access the system and input what they are reporting?
  • Do you have in-service or training sessions on how to use your system?
  • Are residents able to “practice” with a practice or example log in?
  • Are residents educated on what an adverse event, unsafe condition or near miss may look like?
  • Do residents understand their role and responsibility in reporting such issues?
  • Have you informed your residents that reporting is protected and free from reprisal?

Requirement:  III.B.1.b) opportunities to contribute to root cause analysis or other similar risk-reduction processes.

Questions to ask yourself:

  • Are residents invited to participate in analysis of reported issues?
  • Can residents describe the outcome of a reported issue?
  • Do you have any simulated root cause analysis sessions (or other sessions) that residents may participate in?
  • Is dissemination of lessons learned from the event shared with the residents?

Now, how do you oversee and document all of this?

  • Do you track resident involvement and outcomes?
  • Do you keep your governing body, C-Suite, and/or leadership apprised of resident involvement in patient safety?
  • Does your institution use this information to make improvements to patient safety?

Stay tuned for our next installment where we will take a look at quality improvement.