I was not suggesting that noncompliance was a reason to change proper practice. If the practice is indeed proper, and following the practice is a policy, then noncompliance is a reason to assertively increase compliance. It can't be satisfactory to have a proper practice that is a policy yet it routinely not be complied with. Besides the immediate risk, this degrades the entire safety enterprise by creating an environment in which policy isn't actually policy, and pronouncements from the pests from safety can be freely ignored.                                                                                                                               

I have been dwelling on the earlier note that policies should not be seen as just suggestions. If they were we should rename "Policies and Procedures" to "Hints and Suggestions" (although this lacks the alliteration).

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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 9 May 2017 13:12:58 +0000
From: "Sampson, Deborah" <Deborah.Sampson@snhhs.org>
To: MCOH/EH <mcoh-eh@mylist.net>
Subject: Re: [MCOH-EH] [External] Re:  Safety procedures
Message-ID: <966yuhoj2xbqvqjpayorprhb.1494335559407@email.android.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"

I agree with kate. Policies should set the standard based on best practices. Education and compliance oversight should be implimented to improve practice to support safety. Noncompliance should not stimulate policy change when the policies reflect proper practice.

Deb Sampson, PhD, APRN, COHN-S

-------- Original message --------
From: Kate Miller <kemiller@stcharleshealthcare.org>
Date: 5/8/17 7:07 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: MCOH/EH <mcoh-eh@mylist.net>
Subject: [External] Re: [MCOH-EH] Safety procedures

I?m sorry that you see it that way. I see it as a slow change. It is always good to create a safe policy but it is often difficult to implement. With constant budget changes and daily changes some leadership have other things that are a priority but we know that they are working toward the goal of safety always. I think it unrealistic to believe that you can enact change with a policy overnight.
I know that I?m old but I remember when we only used gloves with an isolation patient.  The change to wear gloves with any procedure was a slow one that was instituted in the early 90?s with the advent of HIV/AIDS. Even with this danger in the field the continued use didn?t really come into fruition until the mid 90?s.  I know that if you were to tell a young nurse working in direct patient care today that we didn?t wear gloves when I started working they would cringe.
Some things take a while.

Kate Miller, RN
Caregiver Health Nurse
541-706-4771 (office) 541-706-2694 (fax)
kemiller@stcharleshealthcare.org

St. Charles Health System 2500 NE Neff Road Bend OR 97701 www.stcharleshealthcare.org

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From: MCOH-EH [mailto:mcoh-eh-bounces@mylist.net] On Behalf Of william hyman
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2017 12:14 PM
To: mcoh-eh@mylist.net
Subject: [MCOH-EH] Safety procedures

Safety procedures either increase safety and should therefore be followed and enforced, or the procedure is bad and it should be re-evaluated, rewritten or abandoned.

I don't understand how one can be comfortable with a safety procedure that isn't followed. This is fake safety. Is the idea to just have a procedure so one can say they have a procedure, or is the idea to actually help protect workers, even if that means protecting them from themselves.

If workers can't see through their non-prescription safety glasses then one cannot be serious that "wear your safety glasses" is a realistic policy.

Similarly I have noticed workers peeking out from under face shields because they can't see clearly through the shield. This is another example of fake safety.

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