Patient Safety Specialist

Advocate Health•Oak Brook, IL

5d•$38 - $57•Remote

About The Position

The Patient Safety Specialist supports the Patient Safety Multi-site Director or Patient Safety Manager in implementing a robust patient safety program at selected hospital sites. The role supports multiple sites in the director’s region, both on-site and remotely, and reviews confidential data to identify events requiring investigation. The specialist assists with coding and managing data to evaluate safety program outcomes, conducts event investigations—primarily Apparent Cause Analyses—in collaboration with department managers, frontline staff, and medical staff, and helps develop and execute clinical risk-reduction initiatives, particularly those related to nursing or other clinical practice. The role also collaborates with divisions such as Risk Management, Supply Chain, IT, and Clinical Engineering, and provides education on patient safety topics. The specialist facilitates investigations of safety and near-miss events; supports a high-reliability culture through site safety programs, education, relationships, committee work, and communications; manages patient safety data and reports; and supports the design, tracking, and effectiveness auditing of corrective actions. The position is part-time, scheduled for 20 hours per week (40 hours per pay period), and is remote, with travel to Advocate sites in the designated region and corporate meetings as appropriate. Candidates must be willing to attend on-site and off-site meetings and educational activities.

Requirements

Current licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN), Physical Therapist, or Registered Pharmacist; a current RN or allied health license is required.
Bachelor’s degree in nursing or an allied health field, or equivalent experience.
Minimum of 4 years of clinical experience.
Sound oral and written communication skills to interact effectively with and influence associates and medical staff.
Organizational skills and ability to manage shifting priorities.
Demonstrated problem-solving ability and ability to analyze procedure and process changes.
Self-directed work style, with ability to work under indirect and, at times, direct supervision.
Critical-thinking and analytical skills for the cause analysis process.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Political sensitivity to the dynamics among departments, physicians, associates, and management.
Ability to perform physical tasks such as articulating, hearing, viewing, and walking throughout the hospital.
Ability to work flexible hours according to customer needs and under stressful or difficult conditions.
Ability to occasionally handle 25 pounds.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in a health-related field.

Responsibilities

Facilitate timely investigation of selected safety and near-miss events using Apparent Cause Analysis and other investigative tools, including participation in investigations at sites within the region.
Assist site safety leaders with chart reviews, interviews, and evidence-based literature reviews to support cause analysis.
Conduct confidential interviews with people involved in events and document event timelines and causal factors.
Facilitate cause analysis in a way that promotes trust and transparency.
Review Apparent Cause Analyses completed by site managers and mentor leaders on investigations and corrective actions.
Support implementation of site patient safety programs and reliability tools, including daily huddles, safety rounding, safety recognition, just culture, safety coach, and physician champion programs.
Teach the Culture of Safety presentation to new associates during initial orientation.
Build and maintain effective relationships with associates and physicians to influence site culture and promote safe practices and behaviors.
Maintain alignment of site work with system standards.
Serve as a patient safety resource to committees and teams related to care delivery.
Design and deliver presentations on patient safety and high reliability to committees.
Author patient safety and high-reliability articles for newsletters or publication.
Review reported patient safety events daily and recommend which events require investigation, including reports from multiple sites when requested.
Code individual cases to support aggregate data collection, program design, and goal setting.
Update system safety data repositories in a timely manner to support site and system data collection and analysis.
Aggregate site patient safety data to identify trends and actionable items.
Assist in preparing site reports, tracking, trending, graphs, and analyses related to safety program outcomes.
Advise managers on effective corrective action design to minimize event recurrence.
Assist with tracking corrective actions to ensure timely completion and implementation.
Participate in audits of the effectiveness of key corrective actions.
Attend on-site and off-site department meetings and educational activities, and travel to other Advocate sites within the designated region and to corporate meetings as appropriate, generally monthly.
Maintain proficiency in the department’s software program.