ODU, CHKD and EVMS Partnering on Upcoming Patient Safety Seminar

January 23, 2013

Old Dominion University is collaborating with the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters and Eastern Virginia Medical School for a continuing education seminar for caregivers on the importance of creating a culture of patient safety awareness.

Dr. Karen Frush, chief patient safety officer for the Duke University Health System, will be the featured speaker at the Thursday, Jan. 24, event that will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Big Blue Room of the Ted Constant Convocation Center.

Frush serves on numerous committees and councils to improve patient safety and emergency care of children, including the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Safer Healthcare for Kids Project Advisory Committee. She is a master trainer for the Department of Defense's TeamSTEPPS program and has served on the Pediatric Patient Safety Expert Panel for Joint Commission Resources, the Common Formats Expert Panel for the National Quality Forum and the boards of directors of the Josie King Foundation and the North Carolina Quality Center.

Nursing certification students will be eligible to receive one contact hour for attending the third annual seminar, "The Importance of Culture in Creating a Comprehensive Patient Safety Program." The event is free and open to the public.

Suzanne Van Orden, an ODU School of Nursing senior lecturer, said the event is geared toward nursing students - and the majority of nursing schools in the area have been invited to attend - but the multi-disciplinary theme could appeal to students throughout the College of Health Sciences.

Van Orden said the lecture is part of a broader program seeking to ingrain safety-minded choices into daily work activities.

"It's almost an "It takes a village..." type of thing. There are different opinions on (caregiver) roles, but it is truly a team approach that creates a culture of safety," she said. "That's a whole new mindset."