Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW)
Each year, we take time to recognize and celebrate patient safety improvements.
Why Participate in Patient Safety Awareness Week?
Celebrate Achievements
Take this opportunity to recognize how your organization has contributed to the patient safety movement. Celebrate your achievements and showcase your efforts to your employees and community.
Engage in Conversations
Involve everyone in the conversation about patient safety. Work together with patients and family members to find ways to make care safer and foster a kind and collaborative environment.
Plan for a Safer Future
Reflect on how you have helped improve patient safety and think about the next steps to enhance care delivery. Use this time to strategize future safety initiatives for your organization.

Are you an EMS agency, or do you have EMS agencies in your health system? Check out our EMS PSAW Toolkit!
This Year's Theme: "Moving the Needle"
The Center for Patient Safety (CPS) is excited that you are interested in joining the global campaign for Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW), annually sponsored by IHI. The theme chosen by the patient safety experts at CPS for this year is Moving the Needle, turning awareness into action for safer patients and care teams. This year’s concept shifts away from a week that once sought to raise patient safety awareness to, instead, an industry-wide expectation for patient safety action. We encourage you to use the seven days of PSAW to celebrate achievements and recognize ways in which your organization has contributed to the patient safety movement and make plans for how the efforts will continue. It is a dedicated time and space for each healthcare organization and each individual on a care team to answer questions like:
- How have I helped to improve patient safety?
- How have I helped to move the needle closer to the safest care possible?
- What am I going to do next to improve care delivery?
PSAW Blog Post
Read this year's message from Kathy Wire, Executive Director, about the 2025 theme: "Moving the Needle".
Read