​​​Achieve safe patient care by incorporating our framework The Safety Competencies into your healthcare organization’s educational programs and professional development activities.

Patient safety, defined as the reduction and mitigation of unsafe acts within the healthcare system, and the use of best practices shown to lead to optimal patient outcomes, is a critical aspect of quality healthcare.

Educating healthcare providers about patient safety and enabling them to use the tools and knowledge to build and maintain a safe system is critical to creating one of the safest health systems in the world.

The Safety Competencies is a highly relevant, clear, and practical framework designed for all healthcare professionals. Created by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI), The Safety Competencies has six core competency domains:

Domain 1: Contribute to a Culture of Patient Safety – A commitment to applying core patient safety knowledge, skills, and attitudes to everyday work.

Domain 2: Work in Teams for Patient Safety – Working within interprofessional teams to optimize patient safety and quality of care..

Domain 3: Communicate Effectively for Patient Safety – Promoting patient safety through effective healthcare communication..

Domain 4: Manage Safety Risks – Anticipating, recognizing, and managing situations that place patients at risk..

Domain 5: Optimize Human and Environmental Factors – Managing the relationship between individual and environmental characteristics in order to optimize patient safety..

Domain 6: Recognize, Respond to, and Disclose Adverse Events – Recognizing the occurrence of an adverse event or close call and responding effectively to mitigate harm to the patient, ensure disclosure, and prevent recurrence..

This valuable framework includes 20 key competencies, 140 enabling competencies, 37 knowledge elements, 34 practical skills, and 23 essential attitudes that can lead to safer patient care and quality improvement.

CPSI encourages its stakeholders, national, provincial, and territorial health organizations, associations, and governments; and universities and colleges to play a role in engaging stakeholders and spreading the word about this program so that healthcare professionals recognize the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to enhance patient safety across the spectrum of care. For further information, please email safetycomp@cpsi-icsp.ca.