Email Updates
December 1, 2021 Weekly Issue
PSNet highlights the latest patient safety literature, news, and expert commentary, including Weekly Updates, WebM&M, and Perspectives on Safety. The current issue highlights what's new this week in patient safety literature, news, conferences, reports, and more. Past issues of the PSNet Weekly Update are available to browse. WebM&M presents current and past monthly issues of Cases & Commentaries and Perspectives on Safety.
This Week’s Featured Articles
Ang D, Nieto K, Sutherland M, et al. Am Surg. 2022;88:587-596.
Patient safety indicators (PSI) are measures that focus on quality of care and potentially preventable adverse events. This study estimated odds of preventable mortality of older adults with traumatic injuries and identified the PSIs that are associated with the highest level of preventable mortality. Strategies to reduce preventable mortality in older adults are presented (e.g. utilization of national guidelines, minimization of central venous catheter use, addressing polypharmacy).
Jessurun JG, Hunfeld NGM, Van Rosmalen J, et al. Int J Qual Health Care. 2021;33:mzab142.
Reducing medication administration errors (MAEs) is an ongoing patient safety priority. This prospective study assessed the impact of automated unit dose dispensing with barcode-assisted medication administration on MAEs at one Dutch hospital. Implementation was associated with a lower probability of MAEs (particularly omission errors and wrong dose errors), but impact would likely be greater with increased compliance with barcode scanning.
Theobald KA, Tutticci N, Ramsbotham J, et al. Nurse Educ Pract. 2021;57:103220.
Simulation training is often used to develop clinical and nontechnical skills as part of nursing education. This systematic review found that repeated simulation exposures can lead to gains in clinical reasoning and critical thinking. Two emerging concepts – situation awareness and teamwork – can enhance clinical reasoning within simulation. With more nursing schools turning to simulation to replace clinical site placement, which is in short supply, understanding of simulation in training is critical.
Gadallah A, McGinnis B, Nguyen B, et al. Int J Clin Pharm. 2021;43:1404-1411.
This comparison study assessed the impact of virtual pharmacy technicians (vCPhT) obtaining best possible medication histories from patients admitted to the hospital from the emergency department. The rates of unintentional discrepancies per medication and incomplete medication histories were significantly lower for vCPhT than other clinicians. Length of stay, readmissions, and emergency department visits were similar for both groups.
Benning S, Wolfe R, Banes M, et al. J Pediatr Nurs. 2021;61:372-377.
Patient falls represent a significant cause of patient harm. While most research on falls focus on the in-patient setting, this study reviewed research evidence and findings from environmental assessments to provide recommendations for reducing risk of falls in the pediatric ambulatory care setting. Three categories of barriers and interventions were identified: equipment and furniture, environment, and people.
Loren DL, Lyerly AD, Lipira L, et al. J Patient Saf Risk Manag. 2021;26:200-206.
Effective communication between patients and providers – including after an adverse event – is essential for patient safety. This qualitative study identified unique challenges experienced by parents and providers when communicating about adverse birth outcomes – high expectations, powerful emotions, rapid change and progression, family involvement, multiple patients and providers involved, and litigious environment. The authors outline strategies recommended by parents and providers to address these challenges.
Jessurun JG, Hunfeld NGM, Van Rosmalen J, et al. Int J Qual Health Care. 2021;33:mzab142.
Reducing medication administration errors (MAEs) is an ongoing patient safety priority. This prospective study assessed the impact of automated unit dose dispensing with barcode-assisted medication administration on MAEs at one Dutch hospital. Implementation was associated with a lower probability of MAEs (particularly omission errors and wrong dose errors), but impact would likely be greater with increased compliance with barcode scanning.
Davila H, Rosen AK, Stolzmann K, et al. J Am Coll Clin Pharm. 2022;5:15-25.
Deprescribing is a patient safety strategy to reduce the risk of adverse drug events, particularly for patients taking five or more medications. Physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and clinical pharmacists in Veterans Affairs primary care clinics were surveyed about their beliefs, attitudes, and experiences with deprescribing. While most providers reported having patients taking potentially inappropriate or unnecessary medications, they did not consistently recommend deprescribing to their patients.
Seufert S, de Cruppé W, Assheuer M, et al. BMJ Open. 2021;11:e052973.
Patient reports of patient safety incidents are one method to detect safety hazards. This telephone survey of German citizens found that patients frequently report patient safety incidents back to their general practitioner or specialist and these incidents can lead to loss of trust in the physician.
Fan B, Pardo J, Yu-Moe CW, et al. Ann Surg Oncol. 2021;28:8109-8115.
While prior research has described malpractice cases related to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, this study sought to identify errors specifically related to breast cancer surgical procedures. Plastic surgeons were the most commonly named provider type (64%), error in surgical treatment was the most common allegation (87%), and infection, cosmetic injury, emotional trauma, foreign body, and nosocomial infection were the top 5 injury descriptions.
Henderson M, Han F, Perman C, et al. Health Serv Res. 2022;57:192-199.
With the goal of improving allocation of scarce care coordination resources in primary care, this study utilized Medicare fee-for-service claims data to identify risk factors to identify individuals at risk of future avoidable hospital events. Risk factors in six domains were identified: diagnosis, pharmacy utilization, procedure history, prior utilization, social determinants of health, and demographic information.
Hoang R, Sampsel K, Willmore A, et al. CJEM. 2021;23:767-771.
The emergency department (ED) is a complex and high-risk environment. In this study, patient deaths occurring within 7 days of ED discharge were analyzed to determine if the deaths were anticipated or unanticipated and/or due to medical error. Rates of unanticipated death due to medical error were low, however clinicians should consider related patient, provider, and system factors.
Hinkley T‐L. J Nurs Scholarsh. 2022;54:258-268.
Clinicians can experience adverse psychological consequences after making a mistake. This survey of 1,167 nurses found that social capital (both alone and in combination with psychological capital) has a significant impact on the severity of these adverse psychological outcomes.
Ang D, Nieto K, Sutherland M, et al. Am Surg. 2022;88:587-596.
Patient safety indicators (PSI) are measures that focus on quality of care and potentially preventable adverse events. This study estimated odds of preventable mortality of older adults with traumatic injuries and identified the PSIs that are associated with the highest level of preventable mortality. Strategies to reduce preventable mortality in older adults are presented (e.g. utilization of national guidelines, minimization of central venous catheter use, addressing polypharmacy).
Phillips RA, Schwartz RL, Sostman HD, et al. NEJM Catal Innov Care Deliv. 2021;2.
This article summarizes the principles of high reliability organizations (HROs) and how one healthcare organization sought to become an HRO by emphasizing a culture of safety and the learning healthcare system. The authors discuss how the principles of high-reliability were successfully leveraged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shojania KG. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2021;47:755-758.
Incident reporting has long been advocated as a central strategy supporting error reduction, transparency and safety culture, but its implementation and use faces challenges. This commentary challenges the viability of the concept in healthcare, examines barriers to its success, and discusses a technology- based approach to reduce clinician reporting burden.
Theobald KA, Tutticci N, Ramsbotham J, et al. Nurse Educ Pract. 2021;57:103220.
Simulation training is often used to develop clinical and nontechnical skills as part of nursing education. This systematic review found that repeated simulation exposures can lead to gains in clinical reasoning and critical thinking. Two emerging concepts – situation awareness and teamwork – can enhance clinical reasoning within simulation. With more nursing schools turning to simulation to replace clinical site placement, which is in short supply, understanding of simulation in training is critical.
Groves PS, Bunch JL, Sabin JA. J Clin Nurs. 2021;30:3385-3397.
While many studies have been conducted on implicit bias in healthcare, a gap exists in nurse-specific bias and impact on disparities. This scoping review identified 215 research reports on nurse bias and/or care disparities. Most were descriptive in nature and only 12 included evaluating an intervention designed to reduce nurse-related bias. Recommendations for future research include development and testing of interventions designed to reduce nurse-related bias.
Walshe N, Ryng S, Drennan J, et al. Int J Nurs Stud. 2021;124:104086.
Situation awareness refers to the degree to which perception matches reality. This narrative review explored how situation awareness has been defined and studied in healthcare, with a particular focus on nursing. Three overarching themes were identified: (1) individual, team and systems perspectives of situation awareness; (2) situation awareness and patient safety, and (3) communication tools, technologies and education to support situation awareness. The authors note that future research should reflect nurse’s work and the constrictions imposed on situation awareness by the demands of busy impatient wards.
No results.
Hostetter M, Klein S. New York, NY: Commonwealth Fund; October 18, 2021
Structural racism affects the safety and equity of care delivery. This report summarizes organizational efforts to reduce the impact of systemic racism on patient care, hiring practices, and policy implementation to ensure transparent, equitable and patient-centered care is reliably available to all.
Special or Theme Issue
Bergl PA, Nanchal RS, eds. Crit Care Clin. 2022;38(1):1-158.
Critical care diagnosis is complicated by factors such as stress, patient acuity and uncertainty. This special issue summarizes individual and process challenges to the safety of diagnosis in critical care. Articles included examine educational approaches, teamwork and rethinking care processes as improvement strategies.
Newspaper/Magazine Article
Joseph A. STAT. November 22, 2021
The opioid epidemic has put regulatory and professional pressures on the tapering of pain medications that have had unintended consequences for patients resulting in harm. This news story discusses how one family used legal means to address systemic gaps and clinical missteps that resulted in patient suicide due to lack of appropriate pain control.
Award Announcement
Regional Center at Jacksonville University, University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville, FL.
Inspired by the research and leadership of Dr. Robert Wears, this award annually recognizes individuals, teams or organizations that examine the applications of safety science concepts to improve medicine. Nominations for the 2024 award must be submitted by January 2, 2024.
This Month’s WebM&Ms
WebM&M Cases
Spotlight Case
Hannah Spero, MSN, APRN, Angela E. Usher, PhD, LCSW, Brian Howard MS1, and Frederick J. Meyers, MD |
A 77-year-old man was diagnosed with a rectal mass. After discussing goals of care with an oncologist, he declined surgical intervention and underwent targeted radiotherapy before being lost to follow up. The patient subsequently presented to Emergency Department after a fall at home and was found to have new metastatic lesions in both lungs and numerous enhancing lesions in the brain. Further discussions of the goals of care revealed that the patient desired to focus on comfort and on maintaining independence for as long as possible. The inpatient hospice team discussed the potential role of brain radiotherapy for palliation to meet the goal of maintaining independence. The patient successfully completed a course of central nervous system (CNS) radiation, which resulted in improved strength, energy, speech, and quality of life. This case represents a perceived delay in palliative radiation, an “error” in care. The impact of the delay was lessened by the hospice team who role modeled integration of disease directed therapy with palliative care, a departure from the historic model of separation of hospice from disease treatment.
WebM&M Cases
Gary S. Leiserowitz, MD, MS and Herman Hedriana, MD |
A 32-year-old pregnant woman presented with prelabor rupture of membranes at 37 weeks’ gestation. During labor, the fetal heart rate dropped suddenly and the obstetric provider diagnosed umbilical cord prolapse and called for an emergency cesarean delivery. Uterine atony was noted after delivery of the placenta, which quickly responded to oxytocin bolus and uterine massage. After delivery, the patient was transferred to the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) and monitored for 90 minutes, after which she was deemed stable, despite some abnormal vital signs. All monitor alarm functions were silenced to help the patient rest until a bed became available on the maternity floor. After another 90 minutes, the patient’s nurse discovered her unresponsive and the bedsheets were blood-soaked. A massive transfusion was ordered and uterotonic medications were administered, but vaginal bleeding continued. During an emergency laparotomy, the uterus was noted to be atonic despite uterotonic therapy, requiring an emergency hysterectomy. The commentary discusses the importance and use of early maternal warning systems, checklists and protocols to avoid poor maternal outcomes.
Stay Updated!
PSNet highlights the latest patient safety literature, news, and expert commentary, including Weekly Updates, WebM&M, and Perspectives on Safety. Sign up today to get weekly and monthly updates via emails!
