Ray Valek Contributes Research, Reporting and Writing Skills to Safety Culture Communication

In any health care organization, leadership’s first priority is to be accountable for effective care while protecting the safety of patients, employees and visitors. Ray Valek contributed to a Joint Commission team that produced a Sentinel Event Alert titled, “The Essential Role of Leadership in Developing a Safety Culture” and an infographic about the 11 tenets of safety culture.

Safety culture is now being emphasized in many health care organizations, after having originated in the nuclear energy and aviation industries, which are known for their use of strategies and methodologies designed to consistently and systematically mitigate risk, thereby avoiding accidents.

Competent and thoughtful health care leaders contribute to improvements in safety and organizational culture. They understand that systemic flaws exist and each step in a care process has the potential for failure simply because humans make mistakes.