Why Hospitals Should Fly

Cover via Amazon

This book won the James A. Hamilton 2009 American College of Healthcare Executives Book of the Year. The full title is "Why Hospitals Should Fly; the Ultimate Flight Plan to Patient Safety and Quality Care" by John J. Nance, JD. Mr Nance creates a fictional hospital of the future in which all staff members are empowered - and invited - to form the best treatment plans for their patients as a team. If you are familiar with the TeamStepps concept, you will see it used throughout the book. Staff members continuously "huddle" to discuss the latest plan of care, they brief prior to procedures, and debrief afterwards in an effort to enhance their next performance.

As we all know, the number one causative factor in reported sentinel events is communication. This book acknowledges that we still make too many assumptions in healthcare... we assume that the nurse is familiar with each post-op protocol, we assume that the doctor knowingly did not write an order, or that the pharmacist knows the doctor's handwriting and can tell what medication he wants for the patient. It's a great book related to communicating and teamwork.