Support by management and stakeholders

All levels of management need to be educated about MERS-TM and to provide ongoing support for the system.

Staff must perceive that the event reporting system is an important activity and that management expects and supports employees to take the time to report. Again, establishing a "just" rather than "punitive" culture is part of management's way of showing support for event reporting.

External stakeholders affected by the MERS-TM system must be educated about and urged to support the system. Stakeholders include the hospital patient safety teams, nursing staff, phlebotomists, unions, and other areas or organizations that interact with the transfusion service.

Support from these stakeholders requires ongoing dialogue and communication, inclusion on the list of recipients for feedback reports, and involvement in improvement efforts. If staff members outside the transfusion service are expected to contribute event reports to MERS-TM, the system needs to be promoted to them and they need to be trained.