Quality Management and Patient Safety - Quality Specialist

GRMC Human Resources Department; Dededo Municipality (GU); On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

GRMC Recognized and Certified as is seeking a Patient Safety Specialist to support quality management and safety initiatives. The role focuses on developing, implementing, and maintaining the hospital's patient safety plan while coordinating with department managers to reduce adverse events and improve care outcomes.

The candidate will analyze systems, lead safety rounds, conduct RCAs, and educate staff on safety culture and best practices, ensuring compliance with Joint Commission goals and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in nursing from an accredited institution.
• 4 years healthcare experience; 2 years in the relevant discipline/program.
• Current licensure in the Territory of Guam.
• Current Healthcare Provider BLS Certification.
• Proficient in MS Office; strong data and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Leads and supports the development, implementation, and maintenance of the hospital’s Patient Safety Plan.
• Analyzes patient care systems, processes, and outcomes to ensure safe, appropriate, efficient, and effective care.
• Promotes timely resolution of actual and potential patient safety concerns within the hospital.
• Gathers data detailing patient-related errors from department/unit managers.
• Investigates patient safety events and conducts root cause analyses as needed.
• Ensures submission of event reports in accordance with law and regulation.
• Reviews actual and near miss events with leaders to identify system vulnerabilities.
• Facilitates reviews and RCAs for safety events and assigns corrective actions.
• Identifies trends and vulnerabilities and reports to COO and Patient Safety Committee.
• Recommends changes, policies, or programs to prevent future errors.
• Leads patient safety improvements and coordinates with PI/LSS team as needed.
• Conducts proactive risk assessment (FMEA) at least every 18 months.
• Oversees monitoring and reporting of National Patient Safety Goals by unit managers.
• Leads Weekly Patient Safety/Leadership Rounds and ensures action plans.
• Trains staff on Patient Safety and conducts annual safety education fairs.
• Promotes culture of safety and interfaces with risk management and legal as needed.
• Leads hospital patient safety committee and participates in other committees.
• Participates in performance improvement efforts and contributes to dashboards and reports.
• Populates intranet with Patient Safety tips monthly.
• Works cooperatively with quality management staff to meet goals.

Skills

MS Office

Judgment

Teamwork

Problem Solving

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in nursing

Master’s Degree in Nursing

Job description

Patient Safety Specialist - Quality Management and Patient Safety

BASIC PURPOSE OF THE JOB

The Patient Safety Specialist supports the department/program leadership, education, and project management in the designated department / program to improve quality, operational clinical initiatives, promote innovation, and identify/ develop best practices for clinical excellence, service excellence, and patient safety. Coordinates with managers and staff members towards process improvements that will support the reduction of clinical errors and other factors that contribute to unintended adverse patient outcomes. Provides leadership for safety assessments, coordinates the activities of the performance improvement committee, educates other practitioners on system-based causes for medical error, consults with management and staff, and communicates literature-based ideas regarding effective safety and performance improvement strategies to others within the organization. Operates within standardized procedures and precedents under the supervision of the department director/ program manager.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Education

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in nursing
• Preferred – Master’s Degree in Nursing

Minimum Work Experience

• 4 years healthcare experience; 2 years in the relevant discipline/program
• Preferred – 5+ years healthcare experience; 2 years in the relevant discipline/program

Required Licenses / Certifications

• Current licensure in the Territory of Guam
• Current Healthcare Provider BLS Certification

Required Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

• Microsoft Office skills, including MS-Outlook. Competent database management skills
• Ability to think in situations requiring a significant degree of judgment to analyze, evaluate, and arrive at conclusions.
• Use freedom to think within generally defined policies, procedures and goals under the guidance of the Director.
• Teamwork
• Problem Solving
• Excellent Communication Skills

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

1. Leads and supports the development, implementation, and maintenance of the hospital’s Patient Safety Plan
2. Analyzes patient care systems, processes, and outcomes to determine – with each department/unit manager – if the care delivered is safe, appropriate, efficient, and effective
3. Promotes pertinent and timely resolution of actual and potential patient safety concerns within the hospital
4. Gathers data detailing patient-related errors from each department/unit manager
5. Investigates actual and potential patient safety events that occur and assist managers in conducting analyses of the causes of errors through medical record reviews, interviews, physical inspection, and other means as necessary
6. Ensures submission of event reports in accordance with state and federal law and regulation.
7. Reviews actual and near miss patient safety events with physicians, senior leaders, managers, and frontline line staff to identify system vulnerabilities and opportunities for process improvement.
8. Facilitates intensive reviews, debriefings, and root cause analyses for patient safety events, including never events, sentinel events, and near misses. And assists in ensuring that any actions identified as a result of those reviews are assigned and implemented.
9. Identifies concerning trends and process vulnerabilities that need to be addressed to prevent patient harm and reports them to COO and Patient Safety Committee to address those concerns.
10. Recommends changes, policies, or programs that could prevent future errors in the hospital
11. Serves the organization as a leader of patient safety improvements by demonstrating expert knowledge and ability to execute change; and, as needed, coordinates with PI/LSS Specialist the formation of a PI/LSS Team to analyze system vulnerabilities and error data and to develop action plans/countermeasures to resolve identified problems.
12. Conducts proactive risk assessment through the use of failure mode effects analyses (FMEA) at least once every 18 months.
13. Provides oversight and accountability for the completion of monitoring activities and reporting of National Patient Safety Goals established by The Joint Commission by the unit/department managers, including the review and revision of policies and procedures as needed.
14. Leads the Weekly Patient Safety/Leadership Rounds and ensures that each unit/department generates action plans to correct identified safety deficiencies.
15. Serves as an expert educator and consultant on patient safety, including the administration of culture of safety survey. Trains new employees on Patient Safety and provide staff education on Patient Safety during annual safety fairs.
16. Serves as a role model to foster a culture of patient safety across the organization
17. Interfaces with risk management functions and legal counsel as needed.
18. Leads the organization's patient safety committee and participates on other hospital committees where patient safety expertise is required.
19. Participates in the hospital-wide performance improvement efforts through data gathering and analysis; submits data for the hospital’s quality dashboards and for board reports.
20. Populates the hospital’s intranet site with Patient Safety tips at least once a month.
21. Works cooperatively with other members of the quality management department to meet common goals.