BOSTON, April 12, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), a central voice for patient safety since 1997, has announced the program for the 18th Annual NPSF Patient Safety Congress, which takes place May 23-25, 2016, at the Westin Kierland in Scottsdale, AZ.
This year's theme, the Heart of Safety, is reflected in planned keynote sessions on teamwork, shared decision making with patients, and how to beat burnout, which is increasingly recognized as a significant problem in health care with a direct impact on patient and workforce safety.
Tejal K. Gandhi, MD, MPH, CPPS, president and chief executive officer of NPSF, says that this year, as always, the annual meeting will have a strong focus on safety science, research, and best practices. A big part of the NPSF agenda, however, involves advancing a safety culture throughout all health settings.
"Teamwork, communication, patient and family engagement, and strategies to help health professionals cope in a complex, challenging, and risk-filled environment are extremely important parts of a safety culture," says Dr. Gandhi. "We are looking forward to learning from our keynote speakers, who are true experts in these areas."
As the only conference dedicated solely to patient safety, the NPSF Congress has a strong tradition of providing real-world tools, robust resources, and evidence-based solutions for a broad spectrum of related issues.
The meeting opens May 23 with optional full-day Immersion Workshops in high reliability, root cause analysis, communication and resolution programs, and an on-site review course for health professionals pursuing certification in patient safety.
The two-day conference that follows features 30 breakout sessions and four keynotes:
Teaming at the Heart of Safety - During this session, renowned Harvard researcher Amy Edmondson, PhD, AM, will lead a panel discussion on what we know about how effective teams are formed and how to build them in any health care setting.
Shared Decision Making and Patient Safety - Shared decision making (SDM) is a process by which patients receive the support they need to make their own care decisions and clinicians are confident that the care is appropriate. Benjamin W. Moulton, JD, MPH, senior vice president, Informed Medical Decisions Foundation, will lead a panel of experts in discussing how to incorporate SDM principles into practice.
Hot Topics in Patient Safety: Selected Papers Advancing the Field in the Past Year - Kaveh Shojania, MD, editor-in-chief of BMJ Quality and Safety, will discuss the most notable research of the past year and address how the evidence-based patient safety interventions and effective strategies identified in these papers can be translated into practice.
Strategies to Beat Burnout: In a 2013 Harris Interactive survey of health care workers 60% said they were burned out, with 21% feeling "always" or "often" burned out. Burnout and low morale can impact safety and cause health professionals to leave their chosen fields. In this session, Paula Davis Laack, an author and resiliency expert, provides the keys to beating burnout and becoming more resilient in the health care environment.
Each keynote session will also be streamed live online for the benefit of those who cannot attend the meeting in person.
The NPSF Congress will also feature poster presentations on topics of research and practical solutions to patient safety issues within the Learning & Simulation Center, where attendees experience live health care simulations and learn from more than 75 exhibits.
Press passes are available. Contact Patricia McTiernan at pmctiernan@npsf.org for details about media attendance. For detailed program information, including breakout sessions, faculty, and continuing education, or to register, visit npsf.org/congress.
About the National Patient Safety Foundation
The National Patient Safety Foundation's vision is to create a world where patients and those who care for them are free from harm. A central voice for patient safety since 1997, NPSF partners with patients and families, the health care community, and key stakeholders to advance patient safety and health care workforce safety and disseminate strategies to prevent harm. NPSF is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. To learn more about the Foundation's work, visit www.npsf.org and follow @theNPSF on Twitter.