Level 2 Mistake Proofing

On Lean Daily Management rounds this week we learned of a test of change to improve the rate of washing in and washing out of every Emergency Department room. We have been working on hand hygiene in the inpatient units for some time. We have greater than 90% compliance and we have now begun auditing our performance in the ED.

All the physicians, nurses, and other clinicians know that they should clean their hands upon entry and exit, but sometimes they forget. This has come up as a common cause of the lack of hand cleansing, so Mark Fisher, RN, the Nurse Manager, Shannon Barry, RN, and Amanda Icenroad, RN, Clinical Nurse 4’s, started thinking about how they might improve their team’s performance.

A common action for health care leaders when they see that someone is not doing what they need to do is to re-educate the individual on the process. Re-education is called level 1 mistake proofing. Re-education is a good tool if the person doesn’t know that they are supposed to do something. But if the problem is forgetfulness, then re-education is not of much value.

Mark and Shannon thought long and hard about level 3 mistake proofing. Level 3 mistake proofing occurs when the system makes it impossible not to do the required action. An example of level 3 mistake proofing is when you order something online and the seller needs your 3-digit security code from your credit card. You hit “enter” after putting in your credit card number but not your security code and what happens? You get a screen telling you that you must put in your security code. It is impossible to get to the next step without it. This is also called a constraint or a forcing function. In high-risk endeavors where errors my cause serious harm, engineers always look for level 3 mistake proofing. For example, after some fatalities that occurred when people inadvertently put their car in drive when they meant to put it in reverse, vehicles are now engineered so that you cannot start your car without your foot on the brake.

Mark, Shannon, and Amanda could not come up with a doable level 3 idea that would prevent you from entering or leaving a room without cleaning your hands, so they went to the next best thing — level 2 mistake proofing. Level 2 is not as powerful as level 3, but it is more powerful than level 1. Level 2 mistake proofing provides a reminder in the moment. These reminders are also called affordances. Mark, Shannon, and Amanda decided to create a very colorful sign of dirty hands to put on each ED bay door.

This way when busy, hard-working people are about to enter a room, they have a visual reminder to clean their hands. We applauded them for their thoughtful test of change and we look forward to their results!

Do you have examples of level 2 or level 3 mistake proofing from your unit or department? Please share them below.


Breast Center Earns Three-Year Full Re-Accreditation

Congratulations to the staff of The Sandra and Malcolm Berman Comprehensive Breast Care Center and the Advanced Radiology Breast Imaging Center, which recently were awarded a full three-year re-accreditation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC). This is the center’s fourth consecutive NAPBC designation since it was first accredited in 2009.

The full accreditation program, administered by the American College of Surgeons, is only awarded to centers that voluntarily undergo a rigorous process that includes site visits by experts from the NAPBC, as well as an intensive review of the center’s records. Earning this accreditation means that our Breast Center is held to the highest standards for the quality of care we provide for patients with the full spectrum of breast disease and that we offer patients a multidisciplinary team approach to diagnosis and treatment and state-of-the-art treatment options.

Any hospital or program can say it provides excellent care, but with this accreditation, we have earned this designation for excellence under the scrutiny of experts, which speaks volumes about the high quality of care all members of the Breast Center and Breast Imaging Center teams provide for our patients with breast disease. And that’s great news for GBMC and for the community we serve.

Dr. JoAnn Z. Ioannou Delivers Hopkins School of Nursing Graduation Keynote Speech

It’s not every day that a world renowned top academic nursing program invites someone from a community hospital to speak at graduation, but the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing clearly shares our admiration and respect for JoAnn Z. Ioannou, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, our Senior Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Officer. Dr. Ioannou was the keynote speaker at the August 6 degree completion ceremony for students who had earned advanced degrees in nursing.

A graduate of Hopkins’ Doctor of Nursing Practice program, as well as the university’s MBA and MSN programs, Dr. Ioannou worked in a wide range of nursing roles at Hopkins for 23 years before she joined us at GBMC three years ago. In her speech, she shared the story of her journey from the bedside to nursing leadership, how her mother inspired her ongoing commitment to education, and the many challenging and rewarding paths that the graduates could choose to follow—direct care provider, nurse educator, nurse researcher, and nurse leader. In her closing remarks, she encouraged the graduates to “…continue to collaborate to improve the field of nursing any way you can” and reminded them “…doors will open when you persevere…You will be solving problems that don’t even exist yet.”

You can watch the whole speech here.

The Daily Record Recognizes GBMC

GBMC was recently recognized by The Daily Record in its 2018 Reader Rankings in the categories of Best Hospital and Best Health System. Readers of the publication cast more than 12,000 votes in 60 categories. We’re grateful that the community members we serve are pleased with the care and compassion that our staff shows to all our patients and their families.