Texas Children's Hospital Celebrates Safety Week 2026

SPS is celebrating Patient and Employee Safety Week on March 8-14! In celebration of #SPSsafetyweek2026, we’re highlighting the awesome patient and employee safety improvement work within our organizations! Next up is Texas Children’s Hospital!

Across Texas Children’s, patient safety is strengthened by teams and individuals who pause, verify, and speak up—every role, every day. During Safety Week, we’re proud to spotlight how intentional safety practices are protecting patients across the organization.

In Radiology, the department implemented INVEST, a standardized framework that reinforces reliable timeouts and ensures the right patient, right procedure every time:

• Identify the patient using ID band, MRN, and DOB

• Name confirmed through verbal repeat-back

• Verify orders and patient notes

• Engage to confirm the correct body part/side

• Stop for any discrepancies

• Time Out before proceeding

Embedded into onboarding, annual education, visual reminders, and leadership engagement, INVEST keeps safety expectations clear and consistent. Each good catch represents a potential error prevented and reinforces a culture where safety is actively confirmed—not assumed.

That same commitment is reflected in the work of the Unplanned Extubation (UE) Team and ICU partners in Houston. Over the past fiscal year, ICUs achieved a 12% reduction in unplanned extubations, even amid an 18% increase in ventilator days—a testament to teamwork, learning, and frontline diligence.

At Texas Children’s Hospital Austin, safety leadership showed up in a powerful moment when Maritza Ruiz, an environmental services team member, noticed a patient didn’t look well and spoke up. Her swift action helped recognize a serious medical reaction early, enabling the team to act quickly and ensure the patient received the timely treatment they needed.

Together, these stories demonstrate that at Texas Children’s, safety is a priority that is intentional and consistent.