Patients and families expect full, timely disclosure after incidents. This realist synthesis examines research on patient disclosure to inform what is required to strengthen disclosure in maternity care. Five key themes were identified, including meaningful acknowledgment of harm and opportunities for patients and families to be involved in the follow-up.

Lack of patient engagement in care can place them at increased risk for safety events. This qualitative study explored ethnic minority stakeholder perspectives about patient engagement in cancer care. Focus groups consisting of participants from consumer and health organizations involved in cancer care in Australia identified three themes supporting successful engagement – consideration of sociocultural beliefs about cancer, adaptation of existing techniques tailored to stakeholders (e.g., culturally specific content), and accounting for factors such as cultural competence during implementation.

Patients and families impacted by preventable adverse events frequently share their stories when advocating for safety improvements. The author of this commentary urges healthcare, patient safety, and quality improvement professionals to listen to patient safety stories, not just as technical information, but as behavioral challenges.

Potentially inappropriate prescribing in older adults can result in medication-related harm. This systematic review of 63 studies found that potentially inappropriate prescribing was significantly associated with several system-related and health-related outcomes for older adults, including mortality, readmissions, adverse drug events, and functional decline.

This study explored associations between person-related (e.g., individual responsible for medication error), environment-related (e.g., transitions of care), and communication-related (e.g., misreading of medication order) medication errors in two Australian hospitals. The authors recommend that improved communication regarding medications with patients and families could reduce medication errors associated with possible or probable harm.

Patients and families are essential partners in identifying and preventing safety events. This systematic review characterizes patient engagement along a continuum of engagement that includes consultation (e.g., patients are invited to provide input about a specific safety issue), involvement (e.g., patients are asked about their preferences/concerns and given the opportunity to engage with practitioners about a specific issue), and partnership/leadership (e.g., patients ‘work’ with practitioners to improve the safety of their care, often using tools designed to empower patients to alert practitioners to concerns).

… about decision making; and lack of provider training. … Manias E, Bucknall T, Hutchinson A, et al. Resident and …

Medication safety, particularly among older adults who may have complex medication regimens, is an ongoing safety concern. This study explored medication safety behaviors among young-old (65-74 years), middle-old (75-84 years) and old-old (>85 years) adults. The authors found that older adults are willing to engage in medication safety behaviors, but that preferred behaviors (e.g., verbal behaviors, self-administering medication, reviewing medication charts) differed among the age groups.

… communication and involvement of the pharmacist . … Manias E, Bucknall T, Woodward-Kron R, et al. …

… medication communication. … Mitchell G, Porter S, Manias E. Enabling sustained communication with patients for …

In this systematic review, the authors characterized patient safety events affecting ethnic minority populations internationally. Findings indicate that ethnic minority populations experience higher rates of hospital-acquired infections, complications, adverse drug events, and dosing errors. The authors identified several factors contributing to the increased risk, including language proficiency, beliefs about illness and treatment, interpreter use, consumer engagement, and interactions with health professionals.

… medications of elderly patients during care transitions. … Manias E, Bucknall T, Hughes C, Jorm C, Woodward-Kron R. …

Communication failures hinder safety of health care delivery and are particularly prevalent in medication errors. This review explores how interdisciplinary work can augment communication during medication processes and highlights interdisciplinary collaboration strategies such as pharmacist engagement in care teams.

Interruptions in nursing care are common and can contribute to errors. In keeping with prior research, this observational study of nurses found that interruptions in medication preparation and administration can compromise patient safety.

This study elicited patients' reports of adverse events during hospitalization. Researchers found that 7% of hospitalized patients reported experiencing an adverse event and, consistent with prior studies, patients contributed unique contextual data to adverse event reporting.

This ethnographic study revealed dying patients' and their families' perceptions of iatrogenic harm. Communication-related harms were considered distressing to the patients and their families. These results underscore the importance of maintaining trust in end-of-life care to augment safety.

Polypharmacy, or taking multiple medications, is a risk factor for adverse drug events. This interview study examined how family members participated in medication management for hospitalized patients taking five or more medications and found that communication between family members and health care professionals was insufficient. The authors advocate for providers to proactively engage in discussions with family members as they can know important information regarding patients' medications.

Patient perspectives are critical to inform patient safety efforts. This systematic review identified studies of patient experiences with adverse events. Included studies demonstrate that the types of adverse events patients most often identify are medication errors and suboptimal communication, and that patient demographic characteristics influence the likelihood of reporting these events. Calling for increased use of patient experiences in future studies, the authors suggest that investigations into adverse events are incomplete if patient perspectives are not included. These results demonstrate the ongoing need to enhance patient engagement in safety research. A previous AHRQ WebM&M perspective delves further into engaging patients in safety improvement.

Adverse drug events continue to contribute to preventable errors for both hospitalized and ambulatory patients. In this study conducted in an Australian emergency department, implementation of automated dispensing cabinets for frequently used medications was associated with a decrease in medication preparation and dispensing errors by nurses.

This qualitative study of communication among providers in perioperative care revealed a reliance on written documentation, which was often difficult to find or missing key information, rather than verbal signout. This finding underscores the importance of structured, verbal handoffs to ensure adequate provider communication.