TJC Releases Sentinel Event Alert on Leadership

The Joint Commission (TJC) has released a Sentinel Event Alert describing the importance of leadership in ensuring the quality and safety of care. TJC reports that "inadequate leadership was a contributing factor in 50 percent of the sentinel events reported to The Joint Commission in 2006."

While TJC realizes that the healthcare industry has not yet developed the "zero-defect" approach adopted by other industries, they provide several suggestions for how adverse events should be treated and actions senior leadership, the governing body, and medical and clinical staff leaders should take in order to avoid adverse events due to poor leadership direction. This guidance should be shared with your facility's administration and medical staff leaders.

TJC's Sentinel Event Alert on leadership can be found here:
http://www.jointcommission.org/SentinelEvents/SentinelEventAlert/sea_43.htm.