The Well-Defined Pediatric ICU: Active Surveillance Using Nonmedical Personnel to Capture Less Serious Safety Events

Abstract

Adverse events, diverse and often costly, commonly occur in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Serious safety events (SSEs) are captured through well-developed systems, typically by voluntary reporting. Less serious safety events (LSSEs), including close calls, however, occur at a higher frequency than those that result in immediate harm or death but are underestimated by standard reporting systems. LSSEs can reveal system defects and precede serious events resulting in patient or provider harm. A unique active surveillance program was created at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota to quantify and categorize, and, ultimately reduce, LSSEs, in PICUs. Premedical college graduates without formal health care training daily canvassed the PICUs and facilitated reporting of LSSEs at the point of care. Events were recorded on a Web application and stored in a relational database management system. Events were enumerated and categorized according to distinctive characteristics (Theme Index) and real or potential harm (Harm Index). Some 1,980 PICU patients, representing 10,766 PICU patient-days in a 15-month period (June 1, 2013- August 31, 2014) experienced 2,465 LSSEs-5.4 LSSEs/ day or 0.23 LSSEs/patient-day. Such events resulted in a patient intervention 38% of the time. Some 158 quality/safety improvement projects were initiated during the observation period, 74 of which have been completed. Quality/safety information was broadcasted to providers, local leadership, and hospital management. LSSEs occur frequently in our PICUs. Non-health care providers can cost-effectively facilitate reporting by actively canvassing PICU providers on a daily basis and can contribute to quality/safety improvement projects and local safety culture. Reported events can serve as a focus for quality/safety improvement projects. A Web application and mobile tablet interfaces are efficient tools to record events.