BOSTON (PRWEB) June 19, 2018 -- The number of health professionals holding the Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS™) credential has exceeded 2,000, a milestone in the six-year-old credentialing program, with representation in all 50 states in the US and District of Columbia and in 16 countries worldwide.
“Patient safety has evolved into an essential health care discipline, and the CPPS credential provides a meaningful route of professionalism for clinicians, safety leaders, and others who seek recognition for their expertise and ability to translate safety science and practice into the daily work of their organizations,” said Patricia McGaffigan, RN, MS, CPPS, President of the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety, which oversees the credentialing program, and Vice President for Safety Programs at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the certification program’s parent organization. “The job of all health care leaders and professionals is to ensure that the safety of our patients, families, and workforce is at the core of what we do.”
Patient safety, as a practice and a profession, has grown considerably over the past 20 years as health systems have accelerated their commitment to mitigating and eliminating preventable harm in the delivery of health care. The CPPS credential sets patient safety competency standards and recognizes the professional stature of those who meet knowledge requirements in safety science, human factors engineering, and the practice of safe care.
Many health care organizations require the CPPS credential for patient safety officers and quality directors, while encouraging physicians, nurses, quality and risk management professionals, pharmacists, executives, and even board members to become certified.
“While one person can certainly accelerate practice, from an organizational standpoint, a desired outcome can be achieved more rapidly and thoroughly by an educated team,” said Kathryn Rapala, DNP, JD, RN, CPPS. “There are now organizations where entire safety departments and a large number of executives are certified, reflecting the need to emphasize safety in health care, and we expect the numbers of certificants to continue to grow.”
Rapala chairs the CPPS Expert Oversight Committee, an advisory body responsible for overseeing the integrity of the examination and recredentialing processes for the CPPS credential, and ensuring that the certification continues to meet and exceed the generally accepted standards for reputable certification programs, as well as for certification in safety.
Candidates seeking certification must possess a baseline combination of education, experience, and a commitment to improving the safety of patient care. They are required to pass an evidence-based, multidisciplinary examination that assesses competency in patient safety by focusing on five domains identified in a global job analysis of the field: culture; leadership; patient safety risks and solutions; measuring and improving performance; and systems thinking and design and human factors.
IHI offers a diverse selection of educational programs to support candidates preparing for the CPPS exam. CPPS recertification credits are offered for a range of safety-related programming, including IHI’s Open School, Webinars, the IHI/NPSF Patient Safety Congress, and the Patient Safety Executive Development Program. IHI also reviews and provides recertification credit to other associations that offer relevant safety educational programming that addresses the domains related to the job analysis.
To learn more about the CPPS credential and related programs, visit ihi.org/patientsafety.
Members of the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety:
Ann Scott Blouin, RN, PhD, FACHE
CBPPS Board Chair
President, PSQ Advisory
Rick Boothman, JD, AB
CBPPS Board Secretary
Chief Risk Officer, Executive Director, Office of Clinical Safety, and Assistant Adjunct Professor
University of Michigan Health System
Karen Frush, BSN, MD, CPPS
CBPPS Board Vice Chair
Chief Quality Officer
Duke University Health System
Tejal K. Gandhi, MD, MPH, CPPS
Chief Clinical and Safety Officer
Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Steve Littlejohn, MA, MBA
CBPPS Board Treasurer
Principal
Climb the Curve Communications
Patricia McGaffigan, RN, MS, CPPS
Ex Officio
CBPPS Board President
Vice President, Safety Programs
Institute for Healthcare Improvement
About Us
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) began working together as one organization in May 2017. The newly formed entity is committed to using its combined knowledge and resources to focus and energize the patient safety agenda in order to build systems of safety across the continuum of care. To learn more about our trainings, resources, and practical applications, visit ihi.org/PatientSafety.
Patricia McTiernan, IHI, http://www.ihi.org, +1 617-391-9922, [email protected]
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