Safe Sleep: One Organization's Approach to Enhancing Patient Safety

Abstract 

As maternity units across the nation strive for a family-centered care environment, the question has been raised as to how to implement the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendations for safe sleep and educate parents. This article reviews the current literature on safe sleep practices for infants and describes one organization's experience with an adverse patient event and the resulting safety program that was developed to enhance safety in the hospital as well as the community. Specific strategies for successfully implementing a multidisciplinary patient safety program are provided. These strategies include the development of a departmental safety team to proactively identify and address safety concerns, development of a specialized educational video to support an environment of safety, identification of safe sleep brochures and resources to support staff needs, and development of documentation tools to support an environment of safety.

Keywords: Infant safety, Root cause analysis, Sentinel event, Sudden unexpected infant death, Sudden infant death syndrome, Safe sleep, Co-sleeping, Bed sharing