Living in a Culture of Safety

As physician anesthesiologists, we should all aspire to live and work in a culture of safety. In their article “Promoting a Culture of Safety in the ASA Guide to Anesthesia Department Administration,” Drs. Dutton, Agarwala, Allyn and Connolly note that the description of a “Culture of Safety” is that of “a fully empowered and smoothly functioning team committed to the best possible outcomes for the patient and for the team members themselves.” They discuss the ASA Guide to Anesthesia Department Administration (GADA), which was published by ASA in late 2018. There is a web link to the GADA noted in their article. Of interest to me in their essay is an introduction to a series of papers included in the GADA that provide information and resources to the physician anesthesiologist who is interested in departmental administration. From “Defining a Culture of Safety,” to “Monitoring and Managing Culture of Safety Challenges,”...