Community pharmacists are perhaps the last line of defense in preventing medication errors in the outpatient setting; therefore, ensuring a strong safety culture is critical. This review identified 11 studies reporting on safety culture using the AHRQ Community Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture. Pharmacists and pharmacy staff rated overall patient safety highly, but more than half identified workload as a concern.

“Horror room” simulations are used to help train medical students to identify patient safety hazards. This systematic review of 16 studies found that “horror room” simulations are more common in Western countries and focus on medication-related or procedure-related incidents. The authors highlight the need for research establishing parameters regarding the ideal size and composition of the team to yield the highest impact on learners.

Pneumonia is one of the most common healthcare-acquired infections and can result in significantly longer lengths of stay and increased costs. In this retrospective study of more than six million hospitalized Veterans Health Administration patients, approximately 1 in 200 patients developed non-ventilator-associated hospital-acquired pneumonia (NV-HAP). Length of stay and mortality were significantly higher for patients with NV-HAP.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented numbers of patients seen in the emergency department (ED), some who had COVID-19, some who had a different diagnosis, and some who had both. This study analyzes patients who presented to the ED with COVID-19 and signs of another diagnosis that was missed. Approximately one-third of patients with a second concurrent diagnosis experienced a diagnostic delay. Factors that may have influenced the missed diagnosis include ED overcrowding and anchoring heuristics.

Team collaboration is an essential part of ensuring patient safety in acute care settings. This survey of care team members (including nurses, physicians, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and rehabilitation therapists) assessed teamwork and collaboration across 68 intensive care units (ICUs). Teamwork and work environment were rated favorably but care coordination and meaningful recognition were rated least favorably.

Hospitalized children are vulnerable to patient safety risks. Using a large malpractice claims database, researchers found that a wide range of pediatric surgical specialties – including orthopedics, general surgery, and otolaryngology – are most frequently associated with malpractice lawsuits. The study identified several potentially modifiable factors (i.e., patient evaluations, technical performance, and communication) that can lead to improvements in pediatric surgical safety.

Burnout among nurses can compromise safe patient care and lead to poor outcomes. This systematic review identified five organizational-level outcomes associated with nurse burnout – (1) patient safety, (2) quality of care, (3) nurses’ organizational commitment, (4) nurse productivity, and (5) patient satisfaction – and these themes were consistently inversely associated with outcome measures.

The burden of the COVID-19 pandemic has placed healthcare workers at higher risk for poor mental health outcomes. This survey of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare staff working in intensive care units (ICUs) identified significant rates of probable mental health disorders and thoughts of self-harm. These findings reinforce the need to support the emotional well-being of healthcare workers during this crisis.

… help overnight residents prioritize patient care.   … Shah C, Sanber K, Jacobson R, et al. I-PASS illness diversity …

The anesthesia community has been a leader in patient safety innovation for over four decades. This conference summary highlights presented content related to the conference theme of “preventing, detecting, and mitigating clinical deterioration in the perioperative period.” The results of a human-centered design analysis exploring tactics to reduce failure to rescue were summarized.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) and central catheter-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI), are common complications in hospitalized patients, particularly among critically-ill children. Using surveillance data from January 2013 to June 2018, the authors did not identify any significant changes in CLABSI rates in NICUs or PICUs.  These trends indicate that past gains in CLABSI rates have held, without evidence of further improvement.  The authors noted modest improvements in CAUTI rates, observing a significant decrease in CAUTI rates in the PICU, corresponding with a significant decrease in indwelling urinary catheter use.

This study examined variation in operative technical skills among patients undergoing colorectal and non-colorectal procedures and the association with patient outcomes. Higher technical skills were significantly associated with lower rates of complications, unplanned reoperations, and death or serious morbidity. The findings suggest that this skill variation accounts for more than 25% of the variation in patient outcomes.

Overcrowding in the emergency department (ED) can adversely impact patient safety. This study conducted at a single ED found that maximum ED occupancy rates were positively correlated with in-hospital cardiac arrest over a 3.5-year period, but occupancy rates were not correlated with ED mortality.

This article describes the approaches taken by one health system’s Incident Command Team to prepare for the demand on healthcare resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Approaches discussed include administrative restructuring to leverage a team-of-teams approach, changes to departmental and interdisciplinary communication approaches, reorganizing, synchronizing and deploying clinicians across specialties to deliver necessary care, and developing ‘strike teams’ with expertise in intubation and airway management.

This systematic review pooled data from six trials involving over 9,100 patients to assess the effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks for flu prevention in hospital and community settings. The meta-analysis found no significant difference between N95 respirators and surgical masks in preventing laboratory- confirmed influenza, respiratory infections or influenza-like illness. The authors conclude that N95 respirators should not be recommended for the general public and should be reserved for high-risk medical staff in close contact with diagnosed or suspected influenza patients.  

This retrospective mixed-methods study explored patient safety within a pediatric telemedicine triage service by assessing the appropriateness and reasonableness of the diagnosis reached by the online physician. The researchers analyzed a random sample of telephone consultations and conducted qualitative interviews with physicians to obtain their perspectives about factors impacting their reaching diagnosis and deciding on reasonable and appropriate treatment. Analysis of telephone consultations found high levels of diagnosis appropriateness, decision reasonableness and accuracy. Physician interviews revealed six themes for appropriate diagnosis and decision-making: (1) use of intuition, (2) experience, (3) use of rules of thumb and protocols, (4) making shared decisions with parents, (5) considering non-medical factors, and (6) using additional tools such as video chat or digital photos when necessary.

This study analyzed malpractice claims to characterize nursing involvement in diagnosis-related (n=139) and failure-to-monitor malpractice (n=647) claims. The most common contributing factors included inadequate communication among providers (55%), failure to respond (41%), and documentation failures (28%). Both diagnosis-related and physiologic monitoring cases listing communication failures among providers as a contributing factor were associated with a higher risk of death (odds ratio [OR]=3.01 and 2.21, respectively). Healthcare organizations need to take actions to enhance nurses’ knowledge and skills to be better engage them in the diagnostic process, such as competency training and assessment.