Patient Safety Awareness Week is devoted to increasing awareness about patient safety among healthcare professionals and the public. This year's Patient Safety Awareness Week was March 11-17. As part of UAB's participation in Patient Safety Awareness week, OIPS partnered with Quality & Patient Safety to hold two activities on March 13th, focusing on improving patient safety. The first activity, Sim Rooms of Patient Safety Horrors, was held in the Quarterback Tower sim lab and consisted of three rooms with varying latent safety threats in the rooms. Attendees participated in a scavenger hunt as they explored the rooms to identify as many patient safety threats as they could. Over 60 participants came to the sim lab. At the end of the day the forms were collected and tallied and four winners were selected. Congratulations to Kalan Busby, Heather Martinez, Jermaine Dunn, and Melanie Dunn.

The OIPS team also presented TeamSTEPPS® principles and exercises to a group of 45 UAB Medicine employees. TeamSTEPPS® is an evidence-based teamwork system designed to improve communication and teamwork among healthcare professionals. After a short didactic session, participants were able to practice their teamwork and communication skills in the marshmallow challenge. The team objective was to build the tallest free-standing structure with the provided materials and have the marshmallow be on top. UAB is committed to improving patient safety and if you would like to discuss how to utilize simulation to address patient safety issues please contact simulation@uab.edu.