… J Hosp Med … Parents of children with medical complexity can … on hospital quality and safety . Prior to their child's discharge, parents were surveyed about their child's care, medications , safety, and other concerns experienced …

Parents of children with medical complexity are an important part of the care team and can raise awareness of safety concerns. This study included parents of children with medical complexity who had reported safety concerns to members of their child's healthcare team. Parents whose concerns were validated and addressed felt increased trust in the team and hospital, whereas those whose concerns were invalidated or ignored felt disrespected and judged.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are emerging as tools to improve patient care, but they are not without risks. This article proposes use of a safety checklist to determine readiness to launch AI technologies, prompting users to consider physical and mental health and economic and social risks and benefits.

Diagnostic errors in pediatrics remain a significant focus of patient safety. This study uses two years of unplanned readmissions to a children’s hospital to identify missed opportunities for improving diagnosis (MOID). Clinician decision-making and diagnostic reasoning were identified as key factors for MOID. The authors recommend that future research include larger cohorts to identify populations and conditions at increased risk for MOID-related readmissions.

… J Patient Saf … For incidents to be properly addressed, …

… J Hosp Med … I-PASS , a structured hand-off tool, can reduce … of patients without needing modification. … Kuzma N, Khan A, Rickey L, et al. Effect of patient and family … in hospitalized children with complex chronic conditions. J Hosp Med. Epub 2023 Feb 14. 10.1002/jhm.13065 …

… J Hosp Med … I-PASS is a structured handoff tool to enhance … prospective effectiveness implementation study. J Hosp Med . Epub 2022 Nov 3. doi: 10.1002/jhm.12979 …

Inpatient suicide is sentinel event. This study examined treatment patterns among patients undergoing inpatient or outpatient psychiatric treatment who died by suicide. The research team found that patients who were primarily treated with medications were less likely to be sufficiently monitored, whereas patients who received both psychotherapy and medication were more likely to receive inadequate treatment.

Some patient safety interventions, such as checklists, are adapted or borrowed from other industries, such as aviation. This literature review focused on safety interventions developed in one context then implemented in another, such as healthcare. Healthcare was the largest sector represented, with 20 of the 73 included studies.

Handoffs from one care team to another present significant risks to the patient if essential patient information is not shared or understood by all team members. Stakeholders at this children’s hospital developed a structured tool for handoff between surgery and pediatric or neonatal intensive care units. Transfer of information and select patient outcomes improved, handoff time was unchanged, and attendance by all team members increased.

Children with serious medical conditions are vulnerable to medical errors. This prospective study examined safety reporting behaviors among parents of children with medical complexity and hospital staff caring for these patients in one tertiary children’s hospital. Findings indicate that parents frequently identify medical errors or quality issues, despite not being routinely advised on how to report safety concerns.

… and leadership buy-in on the value of parent engagement. … Khan A, Baird J, Kelly MM, et al. Family safety reporting in medically …

Parent or caregiver limited English proficiency (LPE) has been associated with increased risk of their children experiencing adverse events. In this study, limited English proficiency was associated with lower odds of speaking up or asking questions when something does not appear right with their child’s care. Recommendations for improving communication with limited English proficiency patients and families are presented.

… J Healthc Qual … Medical errors in the neonatal intensive … care unit threaten patient safety . This children’s hospital implemented a robust process improvement program … healthcare-acquired infection. … Nether KG,  Thomas EJ, Khan A, et al. Implementing a robust process improvement …

Identifying and reducing diagnostic errors remains a critical patient safety concern. This prospective study asked clinicians if they perceived that a diagnostic error played a part in rapid response team activations or unplanned admissions to the intensive care unit. Clinicians reported that 18% of acute care patients experienced diagnostic errors.

Deprescribing is one intervention to reduce the risk of adverse drug events, particularly in older adults and people taking five or more medications. In this cluster randomized trial, older adults (≥65 years) taking at least five medications at hospital admission were randomly assigned to intervention (personalized reports of deprescribing opportunities) or control. Despite an increase in deprescribing in both groups, there was no difference in adverse drug events or adverse drug withdrawal events.

… Am J Crit Care … The Joint Commission implemented medication … predicted moral distress . … Davidson JE,  Doran N, Petty A, et al. Survey of nurses' experiences applying The Joint Commission's medication management titration standards. Am J Crit Care. …

Alert fatigue is a known contributor to medical error. In this cross-sectional study, researchers found that custom alerts were responsible for the majority of alert burden at six pediatric health systems. This study also compared the use of different alert burden metrics to benchmark burden across and within institutions.

This study assessed how and when quality improvement (QI) feedback reports on prescribing safety are used in one general practice in the UK. Four themes were identified: receiving the report, facilitators and barriers to acting upon the report, acting upon the report, and how the report contributes to a quality culture. Facilitators included effective dissemination of reports while barriers included lack of time to act upon the reports. As most practitioners indicated the QI reports were useful, efforts should be made to address barriers to acting upon the reports.

Improving maternal safety is an ongoing patient safety priority. This systematic review concluded that maternal near miss events are negatively associated with various aspects of quality of life. Women exposed to maternal near miss events were more likely to have overall lower quality of life, poorer mental and social health, and suffer negative economic consequences.