Moffitt Raises Awareness About Health Care Safety

Patient safety in a health care setting is always a common goal. Everyone plays a role in preventing accidents, regardless of their job title. Patients, caregivers and health care employees must continue to learn about safety precautions when seeking or giving care. Ultimately this is a team effort.

The commitment to provide the safest medical care possible is something Moffitt Cancer Center team members strive for every day. That’s why during Patient Safety Awareness Week, the cancer center takes the time to raise awareness for this important issue.

Each year, through weeklong events, patients and their caregivers are given the opportunity to interact with health care providers and learn more about safety initiatives.

This annual recognition is intended to improve health care systems for not only patients, but health care personnel as well.

“The commitment to provide patients safe medical care starts as soon as they walk through the doors,” said Jeff Linck, manager of Quality and Patient Safety at Moffitt. “Every Moffitt team member is trained on patient safety when they join our team and are responsible for speaking up and reporting when they see an unsafe practice.”

According to Linck, poor communication causes the majority of medical errors and urges patients to always talk to their medical team if they have any concerns.

“Health care is very complex and that’s why I want our patients to understand there are many processes in place to keep them safe,” Linck said. “We want patients to partner with their care teams and to feel comfortable speaking up for their safety.”

Outside of the annual awareness week, Moffitt maintains patient safety by identifying where medical mistakes are most likely to occur and place checks to prevent them from reaching patients.

“Patients may get annoyed when we ask their name, date of birth or go over their medication so often, but we do it to make sure we are doing the right things for the right patients,” said Linck.