… research. … Morris AH, Stagg B, Lanspa M, et al. Enabling a learning healthcare system with automated computer …

Medication inconsistencies are common at hospital discharge. This study found that computerized discharge medication reconciliation, combined with automatic communication of the reconciled medication list to the patient's primary care physician, reduced discharge medication errors.

Accurately detecting safety events remains challenging, and health care organizations are still struggling to determine the incidence of adverse outcomes associated with nursing care. This study used chart reviews to identify the rates of six adverse events considered to be directly related to nursing care: pressure sores, falls, medication administration errors, pneumonia, urinary infections, and inappropriate use of restraints. One in seven hospitalized adults experienced at least one of these adverse events.

… … Nursing care models in which registered nurses provided a higher proportion of direct care were associated with fewer …

… characterizes the types of emergencies that necessitated a medical emergency team evaluation of an inpatient in the radiology department. A case of an ultimately fatal adverse event that occurred while a patient was being transported from an inpatient unit to …

This survey of staff and unit directors at an academic medical center found that the relationship between leadership and staff was predictive of unit-level safety climate.

This commentary discusses issues surrounding inpatient transitions and offers recommendations for nurses involved in transport to improve safety.

A considerable amount of attention has been paid to the issue of physician work hours and patient safety, thanks in part to regulations limiting duty hours for resident physicians. Fatigue has also been demonstrated to be a risk factor for errors among nurses, particularly when nurses work overtime or extended duration shifts. In this analysis, the authors found that among nurses, working voluntary overtime or working more than 40 hours per week were strongly correlated with an increase in self-reported errors, particularly needlestick injuries and medication errors. While legislative efforts have focused on restricting mandatory overtime for nurses, these results raise concern that the widespread practice of taking voluntary overtime shifts could negatively affect patient safety.

Increased nurse staffing on postoperative general wards—but not in the intensive care unit—was associated with reduced mortality for cardiac surgery patients.

… Archives of internal medicine … Arch Intern Med … A continuous physiologic monitoring system appeared to detect …

… The outcomes are risk-adjusted and representative of a diverse collection of hospitals and surgical patients (eg, … orthopedic, and vascular). The authors conclude that a commitment to adequate nursing care may prevent adverse … and improve nurse retention and satisfaction. … Aiken LH, Clarke SP, Sloane DM, Sochalski J, Silber JH. Hospital nurse …

This study examines the relationship between nursing educational levels and patient outcomes using cross-sectional analyses of outcomes data. Investigators studied more than 230,000 general, orthopedic, and vascular surgery patients discharged from 168 Pennsylvania hospitals. Results showed lower mortality rates in hospitals with higher levels of nursing education after adjustment for patient and hospital characteristics, as well as nursing factors. The authors suggest greater emphasis on nursing education, nursing workforce planning, and adequate financing to support these efforts nationally with the ultimate goal of improving patient care.