Weekly Newsletter: Practicum for Professionals, Resident-Led Error Reporting, and Two Opportunities

Are you a health care professional with at least a basic understanding of quality improvement (QI)? Here’s a great way to put your knowledge into action: QI 201: Guide to the IHI Open School Quality Improvement Practicum, which was previously available only to students, is now available to Open School subscribers at all stages of their careers. This unique online course guides learners through the process of conducting real local improvement projects — from writing charters, to brainstorming and testing changes, to tracking data that show improvements over time. Click here to learn more about how students, professionals, and faculty can use the Open School Practicum.

At a Veterans Administration Medical Center, residents are working on a consultation team to increase the number of error reports submitted by residents and helping to address the patient safety issues that arise. This was one of three audience favorites at IHI’s 20th Annual Scientific Symposium this past December. Tune in to WIHI tomorrow, February 25, at 2 PM ET to learn about this work and two other improvement projects.

Dr. Michael Bennick, the medical director for patient experience at Yale-New Haven Hospital, knew doctors loved to see the results of blood tests in the morning — but that getting those early-morning results meant disturbing patients’ slumber. So he gave a mandate: “I told the resident doctors in training: ‘If you are waking patients at 4 in the morning for a blood test, there obviously is a clinical need. So I want to be woken, too, so I can find out what it is.’ ” No one ever called. Dr. Bennick is trying to measure patient experiences such as being woken in the night as “harm” (just like falls, infections, and medication errors), and he isn’t alone. Read more in The New York Times.

Whether you’re planning informational sessions, setting up an expert speaker panel, or hosting a movie screening, the IHI Open School team understands that finding the funds to support Chapter activities can be difficult. Each semester, we offer funds to help Chapters like yours with the important work you are doing. To be considered for event sponsorship for the spring semester, please share your upcoming activities on this form before the March 6 deadline. Questions? Check out our new FAQ page.

Now in its 20th year, the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare is an annual gathering of professionals in quality improvement and patient safety. Co-hosted by the IHI and BMJ, the Forum takes place this year from April 21–24 in London, England. You can apply to present your work on Chapter successes, quality improvement projects, and personal improvement projects by submitting a storyboard by March 13 — and be sure to apply for a student scholarship by that date, too!