This randomized controlled trial randomized head nurses in inpatient settings to either receive individual feedback based on questionnaires from frontline nurses followed by goal-setting, versus a summary report of feedback at the end of the intervention. In the intervention group, patient care messages increased and blaming decreased, demonstrating that a brief and feasible intervention can enhance safety culture.

This study reports on the development of an incident reporting system designed according to human factors engineering principles.

Peer feedback was effective at reducing unsafe behaviors of physicians and staff in this Israeli study.

Improving perioperative safety requires optimal communication within the surgical team; however, classic studies have shown that teamwork in the operating room is often suboptimal. This study successfully improved communication and safety through creation of a structured preoperative briefing protocol for gynecologic and orthopedic procedures. The protocol required discussion of critical operative elements between the surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses prior to surgery. Checklists have been remarkably successful at reducing perioperative adverse events, and this protocol incorporated some elements of previously published perioperative checklists and The Joint Commission's Universal Protocol. However, the protocol used in this study focused on creating shared situational awareness among all team members, and did not explicitly mandate specific steps as in a checklist. An accompanying editorial discusses the cultural challenges that have accompanied attempts to improve surgical safety.

This statement outlines the evidence around patient safety improvement and professes the intent of the European Society of Intensive Care to lead a patient safety initiative throughout Europe.

Measuring safety climate in health care continues to generate tremendous interest, and a variety of tools are now available. This study extends this research by demonstrating a relationship between a unit's safety climate and its adherence to patient safety practices. Surveying nearly 1000 nurses from 69 inpatient units, the investigators focused on one element of safety climate—the nursing subclimate. Positive nursing subclimate predicted safer medication and emergency safety practices. The authors suggest that focusing on interventions that improve safety climate, including effective leadership initiatives, may improve patient outcomes, though they acknowledge that their study evaluated safety practices rather than true adverse events.