About the Team:The Patient Safety Specialist is a highly motivated, reliable, clinical expert on internal and external patient safety issues. The incumbent's expert clinical knowledge and critical thinking skills are crucial for completing risk assessments to identify potential or actual risk of harm to patients. The Patient Safety Specialist identifies and addresses the need for system opportunities in clinical practice, policy, and/or programs to prevent future adverse events. Exercises' discretion in independently analyzing high-volume, time-sensitive case reviews that may also include literature reviews, data analysis and collaboration with other departments and will have an active role in departmental led Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and formal Proactive Risk Assessments. The incumbent possesses strong interpersonal skills when collaborating with team members across the organization to identify system opportunities through departmental rounding, educational presentations, and culture of safety surveys.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities- Significant Adverse Events (SAE) Investigation: Performs and manages system-wide investigational reviews to determine whether an event meets the criteria for an SAE or California Department of Public Health's (CDPH) definition of a Never Event.
- Facilitates the formation and ongoing progress of interdisciplinary RCAs and FMEAs event analysis according to The Joint Commission and other regulatory body requirements.
- Identifies opportunities, develops strategies and sets priorities for improving patient and medication safety. Participates in and/or co-leads multidisciplinary committees addressing incident (CS Safe) events to include near misses in order to identify risks and prioritize system improvements to reduce the potential for medication errors and patient harm.
- Applies an evidence - based approach in case evaluation as well as proactive educational programs to accomplish patient safety objectives.
- Prepares and presents patient safety reviews to senior leadership and to multidisciplinary meetings, including medication events, applying data summary reports (charts, graphs, diagrams).
- Provides education to a multitude of subject areas focusing on patient safety science principles and event or departmental specific needs.
- Collaborates with Office of Licensure, Accreditation and Regulation (OLAR) and Risk Management to align with federal and state regulatory and licensing requirements and organizational bylaws, rules, regulations and policies and procedures.
- Establishes and maintains uniform, organized filing system and database records. At the direction of management researches, gathers, sorts, compiles and organizes information from the files, from other departments and offices, and from outside agencies, etc., for special reports and information requests.
- Performs clerical duties as needed to include copying, faxing, filing, retrieval, and assuring that material is processed timely and accurately.
QualificationsEducational Requirements:- Minimum of a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree in biological sciences. BSN preferred
- Current, active Registered Nurse license required.
Experience and Skillset:- 5 years prior nursing experience in an acute care setting.
- 1 year minimum experience in a quality improvement/peer review role is strongly preferred
