Reducing central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) is an important patient safety improvement target. This study examined the relationship between compliance with evidence-based CLABSI guideline bundles and CLABSI rates in 159 hospitals. Between 2011 and 2021, researchers found that adherence to bundle guidelines was associated with a significant reduction in CLABSI rate.

Previous research has found that racial and ethnic disparities can hinder the safe care of pediatric patients. In this cross-sectional study, researchers examined racial and ethnic disparities in central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) and unplanned extubation (UE) rates across 27 children’s hospitals in the United States. Compared to White patients, Black and African-American patients had higher UE rates and Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander patients had higher CLABSI rates.

Learning collaboratives within the Canadian Patient Safety Institute are working to implement the Measurement and Monitoring of Safety Framework (MMSF). This paper describes the collaboratives’ experiences with integrating MMSF into their organizations. Hospitals reported small scale success and described challenges with implementation when the Framework was not aligned with existing quality and safety processes.

Implementation science is the practice of applying research to healthcare policies and practices. This study explores the role of implementation science in the success of quality improvement projects. Inclusion of expert implementation specialists and coaches were identified as best practices for successful quality improvement and patient safety projects. COVID-19 presented challenges for some facilities, however, including halting previously successful projects.

… adverse events and improved key handoff elements (e.g., frequency of handoffs with high verbal quality) across …

… was interviewed in 2016 for a PSNet perspective . … Coffey M, Marino M, Lyren A, et al. Association between hospital acquired harm …

Achieving high reliability is a goal for every healthcare organization. Based on interviews with hospital leadership, clinicians, and staff, this study explored how healthcare professionals understand and perceive high-reliability principles. Findings indicate that some principles are more supported than others and identified inconsistent understanding of principles across different types of healthcare professionals.

Imaging is an important tool in the pediatric emergency department to guide diagnosis and treatment. In this study, researchers analyzed more than 3.6 million emergency department visits for patients younger than 18 years to evaluate racial and ethnic differences in diagnostic imaging rates. One-third of visits by non-Hispanic white children included imaging, compared with 24% of visits by non-Hispanic Black and 26% of Hispanic children. Given the risks of both radiation exposure and missed diagnoses, strategies to mitigate these disparities must be investigated.

This article describes learning collaboratives conducted by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and Canadian Home Care Association aimed at increasing capacity and capability to improve healthcare quality and mitigate and prevent harm from homecare safety incidents such as falls.

Early warning systems and trigger tools are frequently used in inpatient settings to identify clinical deterioration and prevent adverse events in pediatric populations, but their use in community settings to improve illness detection and time to treatment is less common. The article discusses a consensus workshop, the goal of which was to develop the “severe illness getting noticed sooner” (SIGNS-for-kids) tool to empower parents and caregivers by identifying specific cues of severe illness in infants and children. The panel, comprised of parents and healthcare experts, identified five cues: (1) behavior, such as reduced interaction or lack of movement, (2) breathing, including noticeable breathing or long pauses between breaths, (3) skin, such as jaundice or blueish skin/tongue, (4) fluids, such as persistent vomiting or lack of urine, and (5) response to rescue treatments, or deterioration despite use of usually effective treatment.

Patient engagement in safety takes many forms: patients may report unique safety incidents, encourage adherence to best medical practice, and coproduce improvement initiatives. Family-centered rounding in pediatrics invites families to express concerns, clarify information, and provide real-time input to the health care team. This pre–post study explored the safety impact of Patient and Family Centered (PFC) I-PASS rounds on 3106 admissions in pediatric units at 7 hospitals. Family-centered rounds reduced both preventable and nonpreventable adverse events. They also improved family experience without substantially lengthening rounding time. A past PSNet interview discussed the safety benefits of structured communication between health care providers and family members.

Engaging patients and their families in quality and safety is considered central to providing truly patient-centered care. This systematic review included 48 studies involving the input of patients, family members, or caregivers on health care quality improvement initiatives to identify factors that facilitate successful engagement, patients' perceptions regarding their involvement, and patient engagement outcomes.

… harm avoided for an estimated 9000 children. A prior WebM&M commentary discussed a medication error that involved a …

Adverse events occur frequently in the home care setting. A previous study estimated that about 10% of patients receiving home care experienced an adverse event, and research suggests that a significant proportion of these may be preventable. Early identification of patients at increased risk for harm in the home care setting may help inform hospital discharge planning and improve patient safety. Analyzing data from two prior Canadian home care patient safety studies, researchers found that both increased dependency for instrumental activities of daily living and a higher number of comorbid medical conditions placed patients at greater risk for adverse events. A past PSNet perspective discussed safety issues associated with care transitions after hospital discharge.

… to disclosure may be improving over time. … Wong BM, Coffey M, Nousiainen MT, et al. Learning Through Experience: …

Detecting adverse events remains a challenge across health care settings. This prospective study conducted in multiple pediatric inpatient settings used medical record review, clinician reports, and hospital incident reports to identify adverse events. Investigators compared adverse events detected with these mechanisms to adverse events identified through interviews with parents and caregivers of pediatric patients. As with previous studies, two physicians reviewed all incidents and rated the severity and preventability of all incidents. About half the incidents reported by family members were determined to be safety concerns; fewer than 10% of these incidents were felt to be preventable adverse events. Family-reported error rates were similar to error rates drawn from actively eliciting error reports from clinicians. Families were able to identify preventable adverse events that were not detected by any other method. Error rates calculated from hospital incident reports were much lower than those drawn from either clinician or family reports, consistent with prior studies. These results demonstrate that families can identify otherwise undetected adverse events and their input should be elicited in safety surveillance systems.

Research has established that disclosure of medical errors to patients and families is essential for maintaining a therapeutic alliance. However, less is known about what patients and families may expect regarding the disclosure of near misses. In this interview study, parents of hospitalized children expressed varying preferences surrounding disclosure of errors, near misses, and the degree to which they desired their children participate in the disclosure process.

Detecting and measuring patient safety hazards remains challenging, but assessing the potential for a given safety problem to cause harm is even more difficult. Experts therefore sought to achieve consensus around an all-cause pediatric harm measurement tool using a modified Delphi process. They vetted 108 possible trigger tools that can indicate an incipient safety risk, including use of reversal agents for high-risk medications and diagnosis of health care–associated infections. After multiple rounds of discussion and evidence review, investigators produced a list of 51 triggers, which they plan to pilot test. The authors assert that this work is the first step toward identifying harm to pediatric patients in real-time.

The SQUIRE guidelines were developed to improve reporting on research and initiatives targeted toward improving quality and safety of health care. This commentary provides examples for authors who seek to apply the revised guidelines in safety improvement work and write about their experiences.

This prospective error investigation study combined a trigger approach to identify possible adverse events with medical record review and structured interviews to determine underlying causes for adverse events. Investigators found that a myriad of factors contribute to adverse events, and multiple distinct interventions would be needed to prevent the detected events. The authors advocate for a framework to classify underlying causes together when they can be addressed by the same intervention.