As high workload and interruptions are known contributors to diagnostic errors, significant research has been conducted to understand and ameliorate the impact of these factors. This study examined the association between hospitalist busyness (i.e., number of admissions and pages), resource utilization, number of differential diagnoses, and the hospitalist's diagnostic confidence and subjective awareness. Increasing levels of busyness were associated with hospitalists reporting it was "difficult to focus on what is happening in the present" but had no effect on diagnostic confidence.

Burnout has been reported across numerous healthcare settings and disciplines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among US hospital infection preventionists surveyed in this study, nearly half reported feeling burnt out, but strong leadership support was associated with lower rates of burnout. Leadership support was also associated with psychological safety and a stronger safety climate.

Quantitative studies have demonstrated that emergency department (ED) overcrowding and patient boarding contribute to adverse events. This study includes both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how ED clinicians view the impact of boarding on their own well-being as well as patient safety. Key themes include clinician dissatisfaction and burnout, and high rates of verbal and physical abuse from boarding patients. Possible solutions included improved standardization of care, proactive planning, and culture change hospital-wide.

Many patients were unable to access care during the pandemic, particularly during surges. This longitudinal cohort study in the UK reports that 35% of participants reported disrupted access to care (e.g., cancelled or postponed appointments or procedures). While overall rates of potentially preventable hospitalization were low (3%), those who reported disrupted access had increased risk of potentially preventable hospitalization.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged infection prevention and control practices. Findings from this survey of infection prevention professionals from acute care hospitals in the United States found that while CLABSI and VAE preventive practices either increased or remained consistent, use of CAUTI preventive practices decreased during the pandemic.

Pharmacists play a critical role in medication safety. This article evaluated the impact of a pharmacist-led information technology intervention (PINCER) among a retrospective cohort of 56.8 million National Health Service (NHS) patients across 6,367 general practices between September 2019 and September 2021. Findings indicate that potentially dangerous prescribing (i.e., prescribing medications to patients without associated blood test monitoring, co-prescribing medications with adverse indications, prescribing medications to patients with certain comorbidities) was largely unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medication discrepancies at discharge are a known contributor to hospital readmission, but nonmedication needs may also contribute. In this study, 200 survivors of acute respiratory failure were followed up 7-28 days post discharge to assess unmet nonmedication discharge needs (i.e., durable medical equipment, home health services, follow-up medical appointments). Nearly all patients had at least one unmet need, but this was not associated with hospital readmission or mortality within 90 days.

Severe maternal morbidity (SMM) is an international public health concern and the focus of hospital quality improvement activities. This article describes the development of a performance SMM (pSMM) that can be used to quantify potentially preventable, hospital-acquired SMM. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) SMM measure was adapted and results are stratified by hospital type.

Psychological safety is a cornerstone of high reliability organizations (HROs). This children’s hospital developed two scales (trust in team members and trust in leadership) and one composite measure (local learning) to measure staff psychological safety and evaluate the effectiveness of their transition to high reliability. More than 4,500 health system staff completed the survey; results indicate the two scales are strongly associated with the composite measure.

Patient falls are considered a never event and can result in serious injury. This study retrospectively reviewed inpatient falls resulting in injury and the strength of the improvement recommendations proposed after investigation of the event. The researchers classified 8.5% of recommendations as ‘strong’ (i.e., environmental modifications, equipment/process redesign), 35.7% as ‘medium’ (i.e., changing documentation process and/or skill mix, providing education) and 55.8% as ‘weak’ (i.e., alerts or warnings).

Maternal morbidity and mortality remains a major public health concern, particularly among pregnant people of color. This US hospital established a multi-disciplinary committee, the obstetric Quality and Peer Review Committee (OBQPRC), to review all cases of severe maternal morbidity (SMM). This article compares the pre- and post-intervention periods to determine if rates of potentially preventable SMM decreased. While there was no difference in SMM rates pre- and post-intervention, the rate of potentially preventable events significantly decreased after implementation of routine review of all SMM.  

Children with complex home care needs are vulnerable to medication errors. This guideline suggests strategies to enhance medication safety at home that include focusing on health literacy, prescriber actions, dosing tool appropriateness, communication, and training of caregivers. 

In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced the third Global Patient Safety Challenge, Medication Without Harm. Interviews, focus groups, and document analysis were conducted at four UK hospitals to evaluate how they were addressing the domains and priority areas laid out in the WHO’s Patient Safety Challenge. Although all areas were addressed, additional focus is needed on patient and public involvement, transitions of care, and polypharmacy.

Problem lists, while an important part of high-quality care, are frequently incomplete or lack accuracy. This study examined the effectiveness of leveraging indication alerts in electronic health records (EHR) (medication ordered lacking a corresponding problem on the problem list) in two different hospitals using different EHRs. Both sites resulted in a proportion of new problems being added to the problem list for the medications triggered. Between 9.6% and 11.1% were abandoned (order started but not signed), which needs further study.

This qualitative study examined patients’ perspectives on trust in hospitals and health care systems. Patients identified three factors that impact their trust in hospitals: competence, caring, and communication.

… from participating children’s hospitals. … Levy FH, Conrad KA, Kemper C, Green M. The Child Health PSO at 10 Years: an emerging …

A lack of situational awareness can lead to delayed recognition of patient deterioration. This children’s hospital developed and implemented a situational awareness framework designed to decrease emergency transfers to the intensive care unit (ICU). The framework included both objective and subjective criteria. By identifying patients at increased risk of clinical deterioration (“watcher status”) and use of the framework, recognition of deterioration occurred sooner and resulted in fewer emergency transfers to the ICU.

… can help frame the conversation around deprescribing . … Green AR, Aschmann H, Boyd CM, et al. Assessment of …

… authors suggest that the use of engineering controls (e.g., flow restrictors on liquid formulas) may reduce adverse …