Joint Commission Monograph Addresses Need for Culture of Safety for Patients and Workers

To draw attention to the need to create a culture that focuses on both the safety of patients and of the healthcare workers who care for them, the Joint Commission has released a new monograph. Improving Patient and Worker Safety: Opportunities for Synergy, Collaboration and Innovation asserts that high rates of injuries and illnesses among healthcare workers serve as a warning that the healthcare environment as a whole must be transformed in order to improve safety. The monograph highlights examples of healthcare organizations’ practices that address patient and worker safety simultaneously and the benefits and potential cost savings attained through collaboration between employee and patient safety departments.