Page 57 - BusinessWest September 18, 2023

HEALTHCARE HEROES OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
“We thought, ‘let’s come
up with a safety role
to empower people to
not only keep these patients safe, but engage with t”hem as well.’
Elaborating, she said the role involves not merely sitting with at an at-risk patient, but engaging with them as a well, a position that brings more value to the patients and the hospital, but also those who assume that role.
“We thought, ‘let’s come up with a safety role to empower people to not only keep these patients safe, but engage with them as well,” she said. “We don’t have sitters here; we don’t have observers here — we have patient safety associates, and the idea is to give them some education and tools to enrich the experience while they’re sitting with a patient.”
Mokwuah and Brito embody the motivations behind the PSA position and also just how vital these individuals are —
to a hospital, to the patients they serve, to initiatives to reduce falls and improve overall patient safety, and, sometimes, much more.
Indeed, both have been credited with saving lives in recent months — Mokwuah in April, by seeing something while in the virtual monitoring room and immediately calling for a team member to check on the patient, and Brito in July for performing the Heimlich maneuver on a patient he heard making sounds of distress while he was sitting with another patient. (More on both episodes later).
Both men were named employee of the month for their respective actions. That’s
From left, Margaret-Ann Azaro, Joel Brito, Gabe Mokwuah, and Brian Toia.
certainly an honor, and in October, they’ll be receiving another one: Healthcare Hero.
Not on Their Watch
There are actually three distinct roles within the PSA position, and individuals with
that title handle all three on a rotating basis, noted Brian Toia, Nursing director of the ICU, RN float pool, and patient safety associates, adding that teamwork is what makes this innovative program so effective.
The first role involves one-on-one direct
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