Rethinking Patient Safety Foundation

General objective

To introduce Rethinking Patient Safety and inspire new and innovative approaches to embed safety into everyday work.

After completing this foundation, you will be able to:

• Describe key learnings from the Rethinking Patient Safety discussion guide
• Start meaningful conversations about safety with colleagues, patients, caregivers and communities
• Identify practical actions to strengthen safety in your team or setting

Before you begin

Before diving in, take a moment to gather the materials you’ll need to complete this foundation

• Rethinking Patient Safety introduction video 
• Rethinking Patient Safety discussion guide 
• “What-Makes-You-Feel-Safe-Poster-MAR2024.pdf  
• How to Have Safety Conversations: A Resource for Healthcare Providers  
• How to Have Safety Conversations: A Resource for Patients and Caregivers    
• Conversation starters (3 slides)  

Now that you’ve explored why rethinking patient safety matters, take the next step to deepen your understanding and apply it in your own setting. This activity will help you expand your definition of harm and safety and use curiosity and connection to spark change.

Watch and read

Start by watching the Rethinking Patient Safety introduction video and reviewing the discussion guide.

• Rethinking Patient Safety discussion guide 

Reflection prompts:

• What surprised or resonated with you most?
• Where might safety be present in your daily work?

Safety conversations

One of the first steps toward making care safer is to start by thinking and talking about it differently. To kickstart your Rethinking Patient Safety journey, we encourage you to begin by having safety conversations with leaders, staff, volunteers, patients, residents, clients, care partners and community partners.

Engaging with others helps us understand what safety means to them and how they may have experienced harm and its impacts. These conversations help shift the culture around safety by inviting in diverse perspectives and building shared understanding.

Let’s get started with your team. 

Step 1 – Complete

Complete the “What makes you feel safe?” poster. This activity helps surface what safety means to different people.

“What makes you feel safe?”  poster

Step 2 – Build your Safety Wall

Use your team’s completed posters to build a “Safety Wall” in a shared space or virtual environment. This visual display helps keep the conversation going and highlights what safety means to your team and those you serve.

Step 3 - Team conversation - Reflection prompts (team):

• What stood out to you in the reading Rethinking Patient Safety or poster activity? 
• What were your “aha” moments? 
• Select one question from the discussion guide (page 7) to explore with your team.  

Step 4 - Take action – apply what you’ve learned

Now that you’ve started exploring safety within your team, it’s time to expand the circle. Over the next few days, we are asking each team member to have conversations about safety with at least five colleagues and five clients.

This might sound simple, but many people have shared that starting these conversations can feel challenging. The good news is that once they begin, they are often experienced as invaluable and even unforgettable.

Bringing safety conversations into daily practice

Here are some ways to integrate safety conversations into your daily work:

• Add a safety question from the Rethinking Patient Safety discussion guide to team huddles, team meetings or shift handovers
• Start informal conversations with colleagues during the day
• Expand your Safety Wall by inviting patients, caregivers, communities, care partners, and colleagues to fill out a “What makes you feel safe?” poster 
• Bring safety questions into your interactions with patients: during morning rounds, intake, home visits or family meetings 
• Share conversation starters or the “How to Have Safety Conversations” resources with clients and colleagues  
• If you’re unsure how to start, try practicing:
  • with a colleague through role-play
  • with a friend or family member to build confidence

Tips for success

• Keep the tone open and curious
• Use everyday language
• Follow the lead of the person you’re speaking with
• Be okay with pauses or silence

It’s not about getting it perfect – it’s about building trust 

Tips for hosting a safety conversation

• Make it safe to talk about safety – A big part of making safety conversations successful involves normalizing them. However, not everyone will feel safe to talk about safety. Before safety conversations can take place, recognize power dynamics that may exist and work to create environment that encourages open dialogue and promote exploration and curiosity for all.

• Ask questions – Safety conversations are built around the practice of asking questions. By asking questions, you are taking the first step and ensuring that the onus is not on others to speak up.

• Listen– Listen to and learn from others. Acknowledge them, as experts. Respect cultural differences. Active listening and reflection, recognizes that all perspectives are valued and heard.

• Reflect – On what you are hearing and share what you are learning with others

• Act – Follow through on the information and insights you have collected from your events. Prepare a clear outline of steps that will be taken so everyone knows what to expect and when.

• Keep having safety conversations (don’t just have one) – Establish a schedule for hosting safety conversations events to ensure everyone has an opportunity to be part of safer care. Include as part of the ‘onboarding’ process from new staff (clinical and non-clinical), leaders, Board members, and volunteers. 

Step 5 - Reflect and share back

After everyone has completed their conversations, come back together as a team to discuss:

• Who did you speak with?
• What was it like to have those conversations?
• What did you learn?
• What, if anything, might you do differently in your role or your team?

Use this as an opportunity to decide how you might keep safety conversations going in your day-to-day work.

Safety begins with a conversation. One of the most powerful ways to improve patient safety is to start a conversation. It might seem simple, but by asking questions and listening to understand, we can identify areas for improvement and build a culture of trust and openness. Reflect on how engaging with patients, caregivers, and colleagues can lead to culturally safe and equitable care, and care that is safer for all.

This foundation is just a starting point, a way to demonstrate that small actions can spark big changes. By asking questions and acting on what we learn, we can create a culture where safety is viewed as a shared responsibility that begins with every conversation. Together, we can build a system where safety is not just the absence of harm, but a foundational element of everything we do.

There are many ways to continue your journey with Rethinking Patient Safety. Whether you're looking to deepen your understanding, try something new with your team, or share what you've learned, the resources below can help you take the next step.

Join national learning and awareness efforts 

• Participate in Canadian Patient Safety Week Connect with others across the country who are working to improve patient safety. Explore stories, tools and conversations that spark meaningful change. 
• Enroll in the PSE e-learning modules  Learn more about patient safety fundamentals and how to apply them in real-world settings through short, self-paced online modules. 

Looking for something specific? Try one of these activity cards to discover creative and practical tools to help you shift how you think and act for patient safety in your own environment.