The Joint Commission Update: Improving Patient and Worker Safety: Exploring Opportunities for Synergy
Barbara I. Braun PhD
Hasina Hafiz MPH
Annette Riehle MSN, RN

$3.95 		Journal of Nursing Care Quality
June 2013 
Volume 28  Number 2
Pages 99 - 102
 
  PDF Version Available!

ABSTRACT
THE INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE report that medical errors claim the lives of 44 000 to 98 000 patients annually1 has prompted many health care safety initiatives during the past decade. These initiatives often focus solely on patients, although many safety issues also place nurses and other health care workers at risk for harm. In fact, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health2 and US Department of Labor3 report that health care workers experience some of the highest rates of nonfatal occupational illness and injury-exceeding even construction and manufacturing industries. Given the high risk, high volume, and significant costs associated with adverse health events, it seems imperative that the health care industry explores new opportunities to reduce preventable harm. One possible approach is by integrating patient and worker health and safety activities wherever feasible. There is growing consensus that integrating patient and worker health and safety activities can offer significant opportunities to reduce preventable harm.4Certain industries, such as nuclear power and air traffic control, are considered to be highly reliable because they prioritize safety for all due to the high risk, high hazard nature of their business. High reliability organizations have been defined as "systems operating in hazardous conditions that have fewer than their fair share of adverse events."5(p769) High reliability organizations are deeply concerned with safety, valuing near-miss events as opportunities to learn how to improve.6 Leadership and staff embrace a culture of safety that becomes a fundamental characteristic of the organization and "the way it does business." In health care, this would logically include safety for both patients and workers.The evidence that staff working conditions are related to patient safety continues to grow.7 Stone et al8 suggested that there are common structural and process factors that affect outcomes for both workers and patients. Some

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