At Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), the hospital team aims to ensure that patient safety is never a concern, protecting every patient from preventable harm.

Walter Reed has consistently earned an "A" grade from The Leapfrog Group, the most recent for fall 2025, highlighting the medical center’s commitment to patient safety and presidential care.

During its Leapfrog evaluation, Walter Reed achieved high scores in the prevention of MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infection, and prevention of sepsis infections after surgery. Evaluators also noted the hospital staff for “safe medication administration, handwashing practices, communication about medicines and discharge, and teamwork to prevent errors.”

Leapfrog, an independent nonprofit watchdog organization that evaluates hospitals nationwide on safety and prevention measures, also rated Walter Reed high in “nursing and bedside care for patients, effective leadership to prevent errors, specially-trained doctors' care of ICU patients, communication among doctors and nurses, and responsiveness of the hospital staff.”

“The goal of the Department of War’s Patient Safety program is to achieve zero preventable harm and provide patient-centered, evidence-based care to improve patient outcomes,” said Bernadette Naquin, a registered nurse with the Directorate for Quality at Walter Reed.

She explained that Walter Reed’s patient safety program has four goals – “encourage a standardized systems approach across the military treatment facility to create a safer patient environment; foster a culture of safety, trust and transparency through communication, care coordination, and teamwork; facilitate timely and accurate reporting and analysis of near misses, unsafe conditions, and adverse patient safety events; and supporting Ready Reliable Care principles that promote a patient safety culture.”

“[Our] patient safety program also supports readiness by working to ensure we have both a ready medical force and a medically ready force. We do this by following the principles of high reliability to work to achieve top outcomes despite operating in a complex, high-risk environment. This work includes improving standardization and reducing variability; mitigating errors to achieve zero harm; celebrating transparency and accountability; and valuing the contributions of all individuals, regardless of rank.”

Medical teams at Walter Reed conduct daily tiered huddles, or communication meetings among providers and staff to share, elevate and solve operational safety, or staffing concerns, Naquin explained, adding that this culminates with the Leader Daily Safety Brief.

“These huddles ensure we maintain situational awareness and a sensitivity to operations to react to situations that may unfold in an unexpected way. Our leaders review the Patient Safety Reports entered in the Joint Patient Safety Reporting system to learn more about what events or unsafe conditions and near-misses that need attention before they cause harm. We use these events to learn about the issues and to work towards improvements to prevent harm,” she added.

Naquin added an important part of a culture of safety is ensuring that everyone’s voice is respected, and staff members feel safe to raise concerns. Patients and families are also encouraged to participate, ask questions about their care, and engage in safety protocols.

“We do this in the way we review patient adverse events and patient safety reports. Additionally, our leaders participate in Safety Leader Rounds to hear directly from staff about their successes, concerns and ideas for improvement.”

“No one is coming to work with the intention of making an error or being involved in a harm event. In most cases, there are system issues that contributed to the event. We approach each event with this perspective and work with the staff to understand what happened, how and why it happened, and how we can prevent it from happening again.”

She said this often results in identifying “safety heroes” at Walter Reed.

“We have the Good Catch program, which highlights staff members who caught and stopped an unsafe condition before it reached the patient. We also recognize staff who have shown a commitment to safety and improvement with Ready Reliable Care champion awards.”

In this team effort, Naquin said patients should partner with the clinical teams to both share their needed history and background, following the recommendations of the health care team, and feeling empowered to speak up and ask questions if they do not understand, do not agree, or need more information about their care. “We encourage patients and families to advocate for their own safety. For example, if a patient is unsure if the provider performed hand hygiene, they should speak up and ask the provider to perform it again.”

She said Walter Reed also has “a robust team of infection prevention nurses,” and a Falls Champions committee that works to review the falls data and implement evidence-based practices in the hospital to prevent future incidents.

Naquin emphasized that patient safety is not a solitary endeavor, but a commitment needed by the entire Walter Reed team – staff, patients and their families – contributing every day.