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Positive Deviance: A New Tool for Infection Prevention and Patient Safety
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Positive Deviance: A New Tool for Infection Prevention and Patient Safety

Alexandre Marra, Oscar Pavão dos Santos, Miguel Cendoroglo Neto and Michael Edmond
Current Infectious Disease Reports, Vol.15(6), pp.544-548
12/2013
DOI: 10.1007/s11908-013-0372-y
PMID: 24078405

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Abstract

Positive deviance (PD) may have an important role in infection prevention and patient safety in the hospital. There are many descriptions of successful stories of PD in different sectors from public health to education to business. PD has been applied in the healthcare setting to improve hand hygiene compliance, reduce methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and reduce bloodstream infections in an outpatient hemodialysis center. PD promotes dialogue among leaders, managers and healthcare workers, which is a key factor in establishing a safety culture. It also enables cultural changes aimed at empowering frontline workers (the positive deviants) to innovate and improve compliance with infection prevention measures. The structure and the process of PD, and its ability to offer a space for experience discussions, changing ideas and making plans that emerge from team participation will also be discussed.
Positive deviant Leadership Innovation Medicine & Public Health Compliance Solutions Infectious Diseases Initiative

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