EDITOR’S FOUNDING EDITORS NOTE Eugene W. Jackson Daniel L. Cheney

EDITORIAL STAFF

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Cheryl L. Mee, RN,BC, CMSRN, MSN EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Katherine W. Carey EXECUTIVE MANAGING EDITOR: Jane Benner, MS(LIS) CLINICAL DIRECTOR: Anne Woods, RN, CRNP, APRN,BC, MSN Is safety on your radar screen? SENIOR CLINICAL EDITOR: Denise D. Hayes, RN, CRNP, MSN Unlike most health care errors—even those that kill patients—airplane CLINICAL EDITOR: Lisa R. Hathaway, RN, BSN crashes always make headlines. Yet research shows that the airline pas- SENIOR EDITORS: Jan Corwin Enger, Miriam McCauley senger in seat 14C is safer than the hospital patient in bed 307A. ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Betsy Pitner Lowe MANAGING EDITOR: Erika Fedell This month’s Issues in Nursing feature, “View from the COPY EDITORS: Tara Carter-Bell, Lori Cramer Cockpit” (see page 50), explains why the airline industry EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATOR: Patricia Wolf can teach health care professionals something about safe- CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Rose G. Foltz, Nanci Kulig ty. Consider, for example, the carefully scripted safety DESIGN DIRECTOR: Edward W. Rosanio briefing passengers get before each flight. Standardized ART DIRECTORS: Darcy Feralio, Lisa A. Witter throughout the industry, it’s designed for easy recall in COMPOSITION SYSTEMS SPECIALISTS: Robert A. Nanni, Janice Rodan an emergency, so you’re likely to remember the basics, DIRECTOR, CONTINUING EDUCATION AND CONFERENCES: such as putting on your own oxygen mask before help- Karen E. Innocent, RN, CRNP, APRN,BC, CMSRN, MS ing a child. No matter what airline you fly, you hear the same briefing CONTINUING EDUCATION MANAGER: Janet S. Thomas, RN,C, MS PRINT PRODUCTION MANAGER: Kristina Cunillera and see the same demonstration. PRODUCTION MANAGER: Linda Generale These and other protocols are part of crew resource management (CRM), DIGITAL COMPOSITION SERVICES MANAGER: Diane Paluba a key reason for the airline industry’s remarkable safety record in the last SENIOR DESKTOP ASSISTANT: Joyce Rossi Biletz 20 years. Simply stated, CRM is designed to use all resources—personnel, equipment, and information—to safeguard operations. Everyone from BUSINESS AND ADVERTISING STAFF pilot to baggage handler is expected to speak up if something is amiss, DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING SALES: Greg Pessagno even if that means challenging the judgment of someone in higher author- MANAGER OF RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING SALES: Pat Wendelken ity. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING: Keith Follweiler A key principle of CRM, situational awareness, means being aware of ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING: Lisa Mitsch MARKETING MANAGER: Jennifer Kennedy the big picture and trusting your instincts. Equally important, it means SENIOR FULFILLMENT MANAGER: John O’Brien speaking up when your gut tells you something is wrong. Nurses have ASSOCIATE FULFILLMENT MANAGER: Marie Bartos great instincts but may need encouragement and support to speak up to Product Advertising physicians and others in authority. EASTERN SALES MANAGER: Sue Ryan, RN 1-800-457-9076 Another principle, cross-monitoring, involves double-checking high-risk WESTERN SALES MANAGER: Susan Schmidt 1-866-442-4190 work and verifying or correcting inaccurate or ambiguous information. Recruitment Advertising You already apply this principle when you administer blood or high-alert NORTHEAST/MIDWEST REGION SALES MANAGER: Linda Barta 1-800-237-1342 medications. Imagine how much safer your environment would be if more SOUTH REGION SALES MANAGER: Judy Smith 1-800-590-2220 cross-monitoring protocols were incorporated in your facility’s standard WEST REGION SALES MANAGER: Irene Anthony 1-800-869-6200 operating procedures. ADVERTISING COORDINATOR: Cindy O’Connell Could your facility benefit from CRM? Ask yourself these questions: 215-628-7727, FAX 215-646-0193 • Should medication double checks be more common? ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR: Michael Cousart • Are overwork and distractions threatening patient safety? ADVERTISING PROMOTIONS MANAGER: Pamela Sotzin • Do nurses feel unsafe speaking out about safety concerns, errors, or SALES PROJECT MANAGER: Kristen Rippman near misses? PUBLISHER’S REPRESENTATIVE/AUSTRALIA: Marsha T. McCoy 133 ORMOND RD., ELWOOD, VICTORIA 3184; 613-9531-8233; • Are nurses conditioned to wait in the background for orders? 1-800-64-32-64 • When nurses speak up about concerns, are they seen as troublemakers? EXECUTIVE If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ll find “View from Richard Wohl the Cockpit” enlightening. I hope you’ll enjoy this interesting look at air- EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT, PROFESSIONAL AND EDUCATION line safety and come away with ideas you can apply to your practice. Matthew Cahill Communicate them clearly to the policy makers in your facility—and VICE-PRESIDENT, NURSING JOURNALS Ray Thibodeau please, don’t hesitate to speak up. VICE-PRESIDENT, ADVERTISING SALES

Cheryl L. Mee, RN,BC, CMSRN, MSN Editor-in-Chief, Nursing2006 [email protected] N1106 6 Nursing2006, Volume 36, Number 11