SCCM Joins Effort to Ensure Healthy Work Environments
Link to the agreement here.
The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) has joined a cooperative effort to promote healthy work environments in healthcare. The Society, along with the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), has joined the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (ACCN) in embracing the AACN Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments.
The six evidence-based, relationshipcentered standards are an effort to overcome circumstances and conditions that can contribute to medical errors and put patients at risk. They focus on skilled communication, true collaboration, effective decision making, appropriate staffing, meaningful ecognition and authentic leadership.
Society past president Charles Durbin Jr., MD, FCCM, supported the initiative, saying that "clear, direct communication is the heart of true collaboration, and the SCCM welcomes the opportunity of advancing this important agenda forward together."
The 2005 Silence Kills, sponsored by AACN and VitalSmarts, found that 84% of physicians and 62% of nurses and other clinical care providers have seen coworkers taking shortcuts that could be dangerous to patients; however, less than 10% of healthcare workers voiced these concerns. Those who did voice concerns reported observing better patient outcomes, working harder and feeling more satisfied and committed to staying in their jobs.
These work environment initiatives strive to ensure that work and care environments are safe, healing and humane, respectful of the rights, responsibilities, needs and contributions of patients, their families, nurses and all healthcare professionals. These objectives are in line with Society’s commitment to provide the Right Care, Right Now with a multiprofessional team of professionals. The Society will work with the AACN to raise awareness about the vital role individual healthcare providers have in using the standards to drive cultural change in America’s hospitals.
