Through The eyes of The Workforce - National Patient Safety ...

THROUGH THE EYES OF THE WORKFORCECreating Joy, Meaning, and Safer Health CareFuture State of the Health CareWorkplaceWhat Would a Healthy and Safe Workplace Look Like?In a transformed environment, the workforce would spend the vast majority of timedirectly treating and caring for patients or contributing to patient care through thejobs performed. Time away from the patient would be spent comforting and assistingpatients’ family members, contributing to providing interdisciplinary transition planning,teaching skills to new health care workers, and learning from more experiencedmentors. Nonessential paperwork would be eliminated; the remaining documentationwould be valued to provide continuity, becoming a streamlined, intuitive part of care.Administrative teams would thus be freed from the excessive paperwork associatedwith non-value-added reporting that directs resources and energy away from thepatient care mission and matters of importance to the well-being of the workforce.Walking through the hallways of the organization, staff would see trusted andrespected coworkers. They would know each other’s names and return trust andrespect. There would be a sense of accountability and responsibility to colleagues tocombine training and knowledge as a team to produce the best results for the patient.When there was a breach of practice standards or suboptimal patient care, it wouldbe the responsibility of all to report and be part of the improvement process, whichwould be conducted in a collaborative, nonpunitive manner.It would be understood and respected that all voices would be heard and individualswould be thanked for reporting. Innovation, critical thinking, and technological andFuture STATE OF THE HEALTH CARE WORKPLACE • 21