Patient Safety Officer

Baylor Scott & White Health•Waxahachie, TX

22h

About The Position

The Patient Safety Officer (PSO) manages patient safety for one or more hospitals and provides leadership and expertise to establish a culture of safety. The role minimizes hazards and patient harm by applying Baylor Scott & White Health’s Safety and Quality Plan and integrating data from internal and external sources to develop programs supporting Zero Preventable Harm. The PSO leads facility patient safety activities, oversees event reporting and review, supports early intervention when adverse events cause harm, and works with facility managers, clinical risk management, and other leaders to improve care systems. The role also educates staff, supports compliance with safety requirements, reports patient safety data and progress to stakeholders, and participates in facility and system improvement committees.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or four years of work experience above the minimum qualification.
Three years of experience.
Registered Nurse (RN) registration.
Ability to report, investigate, and evaluate patient safety incidents, medical errors, and potential risks using an adverse-event reporting tool.
Ability to conduct thorough chart reviews and interviews as needed.
Ability to work collaboratively to develop programs that support patient safety and reduce adverse events or hazards.

Nice To Haves

Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS), Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), or Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM) certification is highly preferred.
Experience in patient safety, quality, or risk management is highly preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead efforts to establish a safe culture and share accountability for patient safety across the facility or organization.
Oversee the management and use of event information to benchmark progress toward zero preventable harm.
Work with facility managers and clinical risk management to ensure thorough and timely event management.
Participate in early intervention action plans when adverse events cause patient harm.
Train new facility managers on the event reporting system and establish expectations for thorough, credible, and timely event reviews and management.
Communicate patient safety strategy, tactics, and status updates to hospital administrators and other key stakeholders.
Meet with facility managers, clinical risk management, and other managers to discuss and develop actions for qualifying adverse events.
Serve as a trusted agent for clinical staff reporting concerns that may result in patient harm.
Collaborate with facility and system managers to develop, implement, evaluate, and sustain policies, procedures, guidelines, and toolkits supporting safety measures and improvement programs.
Facilitate Leapfrog submissions.
Review and ensure compliance with National Patient Safety Goals.
Serve as chairperson or member of the hospital Patient Safety Committee.
Assist in developing process improvement plans and policies; evaluate reports and ensure compliance with quality, performance, and patient safety requirements.
Evaluate and redesign systems and care processes to reduce future harm, including use of checklists and human-factors approaches.
Manage patient safety initiatives, educate staff, and promote compliance and improvement.
Use adverse-event report data to support and monitor safety initiatives for high-risk patient populations.
Participate in Patient Safety and Zero Harm Rounds to identify risks and empower staff to identify and resolve concerns.
Regularly report patient safety data and program updates to facility executive leadership, managers, and medical staff administrators.
Represent the facility on system committees or councils, participate in their process-improvement initiatives, and support spreading best practices within the facility.
Report, investigate, and evaluate patient safety incidents, medical errors, and potential risks using the adverse-event reporting tool, including chart review or interviews as needed.
Provide event-reporting-system data to facility managers to support and monitor harm-reduction programs, and maintain confidentiality while fostering employee reporting.
Use structured data collection and examination, evidence-based care, and the Model for Improvement (PDCA) to improve reliability and reduce preventable harm.
Partner with facility leadership on activities that support a fair and consistent environment, learning, safe systems, and management of behavioral choices related to patient safety.