Quality and Safety Symposium, Poster Session

Two things make the poster session at the Quality and Safety Symposium special compared to other research showcases. First is its encouragement of works in progress. Discussions around quality improvement or other safety-related projects can often turn a good idea into a great one and even foster collaborations among otherwise discrete research areas. Which leads to its second unique characteristic, a very diverse multidisciplinary contingent of presenters, judges, and attendees.

Nearly 60 researchers responded to the Call for Posters, representing the College of Pharmacy, the College of Dentistry, the College of Engineering, the Office of Operational Excellence, and many departments within the Carver College of Medicine. About 35 judges, comprising an equally diverse cohort, were on hand to walk through the MERF Atrium, stopping to talk to the presenters. (The introduction of electronic ballots this year made some judges harder to spot without their clipboards.)

Over the course of two hours, attendees discussed a variety of projects and methodologies, from hand washing to avoiding sharps injuries to implementing telemedicine solutions. It is safe to say that as many ideas were shared, there was an equal number inspired by the interactions. Many of the conversations begun that evening continued into the next day for the symposium itself. Congratulations to session organizer Dr. Wendy Fiordellisi on a lively event!

Congratulations to the poster winners; three awards went to trainees and three to non-trainees.

Non-trainee

• John Beyer, Sarah Mester
  “Preventing Therapeutic Duplication of As-Needed Medication Orders”
• Brian Hoff
  “Impact of a Guideline-Driven Quality Improvement Intervention on Intraoperative Antibiotic Redoing Compliance and Surgical Site Infections”
• Kaleb Dandy
  “UIHC Burn Unit: Call Light Response Improvement with Nursing Assistant Driven Hourly Rounding”

Trainee

• Kelly Koehn
  “Impact of Staffing Model Change on Resident Continuity Clinic”
• Jeremy Steinman
  “Trouble is a Foot (exam) – A Work in Progress”
• Harry Porterfield
  “A Quality Improvement Project Establishing Urine Culture Contamination Rates at UIHC”