VHA National Center for Patient Safety
NCPS Staffer Receives Prestigious HFES Award
Washington – On September 20, 2016, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) presented The Oliver Keith Hansen Outreach Award to Linda C. Williams, VA National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) – This is the same award that “Miracle on the Hudson” Pilot Captain Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger received in 2010.
“Linda Williams has dedicated nearly two decades of service to improving care for Veterans through the education of nurses, physicians, and allied healthcare staff in the principles of human factors engineering,” said Dr. Robin Hemphill, VA Acting Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Quality, Safety and Value.
Williams has collaboratively initiated the development of the Advanced Patient Safety Fellowship, a national interdisciplinary patient safety program within the VA that fosters an environment in which human factors engineers, health care clinicians, and other professionals collaborate to share expertise and design safer systems.
As a leader in this and other national training initiatives for more than a decade, Linda has exposed thousands of clinicians to human factors techniques that support the safer design of healthcare systems. Within the VA, she has created an environment that fosters the development of long-term relationships between HF/E practitioners and clinicians. Her efforts have resulted in both individual and organizational transformation in metacognition and approach to design.
“Participants of her many workshops, boot camps, and courses are better prepared to deal with uncertainties and complexity of healthcare. Linda's legacy are the many patient safety leaders she has developed including dozens of graduates of the VA National Center for Patient Safety Advanced Fellowship in Patient Safety and the Chief Resident in Quality and Safety,” said Dr. Douglas Paull, VA NCPS Director of Patient Safety Curriculum & Medical Simulation.
About the VA National Center for Patient Safety
The VA National Center for Patient Safety – headquartered in Ann Arbor, MI – was established in 1999 to develop and nurture a culture of safety throughout the Veterans Health Administration. The primary goal of NCPS is the nationwide reduction and prevention of inadvertent harm to patients as a result of their care. http://www.patientsafety.va.gov/
About the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society is the world's largest scientific association for human factors/ergonomics professionals, with more than 4,500 members globally. HFES members include psychologists and other scientists, designers, and engineers, all of whom have a common interest in designing systems and equipment to be safe and effective for the people who operate and maintain them. "Human Factors and Ergonomics: People-Friendly Design Through Science and Engineering." https://www.hfes.org/
About the Oliver Keith Hansen Outreach Award
The Oliver Keith Hansen Outreach Award, established in 2004, recognizes members and nonmembers who engage in significant activities that broaden awareness of the existence of the human factors/ergonomics profession and the benefits it brings to humankind.