Health Professions Faculty Gather to Discuss Patient Safety in Telluride, CO

Nursing : News : SON in Telluride, CO

Assoc. Dean Gwen Sherwood (c) with SON students

Faculty leaders in patient safety gathered in July for the annual scientific roundtable on patient safety as part of Colorado’s Telluride Science Institute. Associate Dean Gwen Sherwood has been the nurse educator representative in this group for the past six years. This year, sponsored by a grant from AHRQ, 18 health professions students (nursing, medicine, law, health care administration and informatics) participated to co-create a health professions curriculum on open communication with patients and their families as part of providing quality safe care to reduce health care errors. Three students from our school of nursing, Lysandra Serrano (BSN), Rebecca Mooney (MSN) and Vanessa Rhodes (PhD) were awarded scholarships to participate. Continue reading for what the week long workshop meant to Rebecca Mooney with a photo of Serrano and Mooney with faculty Dr. Gwen Sherwood during a team building exercise to hike to Bear Creek Waterfall.

Rebecca Mooney, MSN student, adds her perspective to the Telluride experience:

“Spending a week in Telluride, Colorado was, for me, much more than just attending another conference; this experience is one that left with me an impression much greater than I ever expected to gain from any “vacation.” Being surrounded with healthcare providers with various backgrounds from all different walks of life, each having their own invigorating perspective, has opened up my eyes to new approaches to patient-centered care. Throughout the week, a common theme of discovering new approaches to providing safe, competent care continued to arise as we held group discussions. Much emphasis was placed on managing the growing complexity of healthcare by utilization of a teamwork approach which placed the patient and family members in the core of the team.

By the end of this experience, I realized the impact this week in Telluride had on my outlook on patient care. Passionate conversation sparked an exchange of ideas which challenged my current practices and motivated me to achieve higher standards. Being able to spend time with the survivors of serious medical errors was an experience that will forever impact my nursing care as the importance of using caution was gravely emphasized. Hearing their stories deeply touched my heart as I was almost able to share in their pain and I have carried that with me on the floors of my hospital from that day forward.”