JKF Journal

Thursday, February 26, 2009

IHI On Call: Talking with Nursing and Medical Students

The first time that I ever spoke to a room full of medical students was a few years ago at Johns Hopkins. I told them Josie's story and at the end of the talk I asked them if they had ever head of the Institute of Medicine's report "To Err is Human". No one raised their hand. I remember feeling shocked that these students- who were taught how to cure diseases, deliver babies and mend broken bones- were not being told about one of the leading causes of death in our country- medical errors. The more medical and nursing students to whom I talked, the more I realized that it was indeed a rarely discussed topic. I found this frustrating and confusing. Since then I have tried to talk to as many medical and nursing students as I can. These young minds are the next generation, and if I could make a tiny difference in how they would care for their patients by sharing Josie's story then I was going to do it.

I am grateful to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) for creating the Open School (www.ihi.org/openschool). The Open School is a great resource for medical and nursing students to round out their patient safety education. They offer free courses in patient safety and quality improvement, sponsor essay contests, and host safety conferences for students of the health professions. Each month the Open School offers an On Call teleconference lecture, in which a guest speaking talks about a topic related to patient safety. Students from all over the country listen in and learn. I don't believe anything can take the place of a classroom with a professor, however this may be the next best thing.

On Tuesday- with the help of modern technology- I sat at my desk in my home in Baltimore and had the honor of talking to a few hundred students from around the country. The session was called "Channeling Grief into Action". Simon Mathews, a medical student at Johns Hopkins, moderated the hour-long session. I shared Josie's story. I explained that Josie didn't die because of one misplaced decimal point, because of one doctor or nurse. She died because of a lack of communication. After I spoke, Simon opened the lines to take questions from callers. I loved hearing from the students and I could tell that they had been moved.

For me it had been an hour well spent. It was my chance to make an impression on these brilliant minds that will take healthcare into the future. It was my chance to remind them of the importance of good communication and the need to create a culture in which reporting errors is considered heroic; a culture where doctors and nurses work as a team to prevent medical errors; a culture where the patient is heard and when a mother says, "Something is not right..." she is listened to. I hope I succeeded in delivering that message.

Thank you to IHI for realizing the importance of getting this information to students. Thank you Deepa Ranganathan for pulling the program together, and thank you Simon Mathews for being a great moderator.

For more information, check out the links below:

-An audio recording and a transcript of the session will be available at www.ihi.org/openschool at the end of the month. This link is also the gateway to all of the information about IHI's Open School.

-IHI's Open School blog (www.ihiopenschool.blogspot.com) has an open conversation about the session where you can post comments/questions. I'll be checking in on the comments and responding to them.

-Want to take IHI's educational programming wherever you go for free? You can subscribe to their informative podcasts at the Apple iTunes Store. Just go to the iTunes Store, search for "Institute for Healthcare Improvement" and click "Subscribe" to download IHI's podcasts.

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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Book News

When Josie was first in the hospital, I kept a journal. It helped me remember everything that was happening, everything we had to do. It helped me release some of the stress. When she died I continued to write. I wrote and I wrote and I wrote. I had to get my sadness, my anger out. It was one of the things that really helped me.

As I ventured into the health care industry, I continued to write off and on. One day I realized that I had what looked to be a book in the making and so I showed it to a few people. They told me to find a book agent, so I did. My agent told me I could get a book deal, and I did. Two years ago I signed with Grove/Atlantic, a publisher in New York. Since then I have been working on the book pretty much full time.

The book is called Josie's Story. It is about how our family once was. It is about Josie's death and how we struggled to survive. It is about making the decision to either let the grief and anger destroy me or do something positive, something for Josie. It is about the search for religion, the search for understanding what it means to forgive and the search for the reason why. The book is about my journey into a world I knew nothing about, the health care industry. It is about the wonderful doctors, nurses and other health care providers I have met along the way and the amazing hospitals that have invited me - in my small way - to help them become safer. But most importantly the book is about all of the wonderful things that have come from Josie's death. Josie's Story will be in bookstores in September 2009.

I continue to accept speaking invitations. Starting in early September, we will be able to have book signings after the speeches. If you are interested in learning more about speeches and book signings, click here. Of course, you can always email any questions about speaking requests to speaking@josieking.org. We will get right back to you.

As we get closer to our publishing date we will have more details to share.

One final note- a portion of the proceeds from the book will go to support the Josie King Foundation.

Thanks- as always- for your interest and support.

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"Questions Patients Need to Ask"

There is a great new book out there for patients and their families. It is called Questions Patients Need to Ask. Dr. David Shulkin, CEO of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, wrote it with the hopes that it would help patients and their families get safe care and be as informed as possible when in the hospital. Dr. Shulkin has been on the front lines of the patient safety movement for years now, and is truly passionate about patient safety.

It's important to ask questions when in the hospital, or in any health care setting. We developed our Care Journal with that very thought in mind. Dr. Shulkin's book is a great tool for empowering patients and their families. His book is informative and a must-read for anyone who is going into the hospital or who knows someone who is.

For more information, visit Dr. Shulkin's website at www.questionspatientsask.com.

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