HTSI Takes Home Pioneering Spirit Award
For their work on ensuring patient safety, members of the AAMI Foundation’s Healthcare Technology Safety Institute (HTSI) accepted a big award Monday during the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ (AACN) 2013 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition in Boston.
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| Leah Lough (l), Mary Logan (c), and Sarah Fanta receive award. |
AACN bestowed the GE Healthcare-AACN Pioneering Spirit Award upon HTSI for the group’s efforts to advance high acuity and critical care nursing regionally and nationally. AAMI President Mary Logan and Leah Lough, executive director of the AAMI Foundation, were present to accept the honor, along with other AAMI staff and supporters.
HTSI received a plaque and $750 honorarium, which will help fund a project testing enhanced alarm settings to develop a set of recommendations for enhanced alarm parameters for clinical monitors.
Since its inception, HTSI has concentrated on two big areas of patient safety—infusion systems and clinical alarms.
Logan thanked the HTSI volunteer community for its hard work in these areas. “These are dedicated clinicians, industry experts, regulators, researchers, and others who are so committed to patient safety. They are willing to give their time to help make a difference,” she said.
Key players in the AAMI community cheered the award. “I’ve always viewed AAMI as being more than just a standards organization—I view it as a place where different stakeholders can meet and discuss common issues,” said Pat Baird, engineering director at Baxter Healthcare and chair of HTSI’s Infusion Systems Steering Committee. “Establishing HTSI and having its patient safety work recognized by AACN shows the power of what a few thoughtful people can accomplish.”
Established in 1969, AACN represents the interests of more than 500,000 nurses who care for acutely and critically ill patients. The association is dedicated to providing its members with the knowledge and resources necessary to provide optimal care to these patients and their families, according to its website.
For more information on HTSI’s work, please go to www.aami.org/htsi/.