Stop The Line

This month, we began the education of our staff on our newly developed Stop The Line campaign.  What Stop The Line means is that when measures or interventions are not complete or are inadequate, staff are empowered to intervene to assure the correct progression of care.  The care and safety of our patients is first and foremost.  

When an issue surfaces, staff are asked to first discuss the issue with the direct provider of the patient's care.  If that intervention is unsuccessful, the Nurse Manager or Director is contacted for intervention.  If necessary, the staff member can elevate the matter up the chain of command to the appropriate Vice President or administrator on call.  Staff are required to advocate for their patient's best interest at all times and Stop The Line should empower them to do so.  

Any tool that is available to protect our patients is a good one and we will pull out all stops to encourage our staff to use it.  It may seem like commonsense to intervene, but there are times when staff may not be sure as to whether an intervention is warranted, afraid that the may not be supported in their action or it could be very intimidating for a staff member to take on another practitioner.  Through Stop The Line, we are encouraging staff to demonstrate their commitment to safe, quality patient care at WMHS.