In response to the increasing opioid crisis, many medical associations, policy makers, and insurers have argued for dose reductions. However, when doses are reduced too quickly, patients may experience short- and long-term adverse events. Consistent with other studies, dose reductions higher than 30% were associated with higher odds of emergency department visits, opioid overdose, and all-cause mortality in the month following dose reduction.

Delays in raising concerns in acute or emergency care can have tragic consequences. This commentary uses a case study to highlight barriers to speaking up and evidence-based tools nurses can use such as the CUS Tool and two-challenge rule. Training all healthcare staff in communication techniques can encourage speaking up and respectful responses.

Shortfalls in electronic health record (EHR) interoperability can threaten patient safety. Chief clinical information officers (CCIOs) participating in semi-structured interviews highlighted the ways in which limited EHR interoperability adversely impacts patient health and safety by hindering care coordination and creating inefficient care processes. Participants noted that solutions are necessary at both the technical (e.g., user-centered design) and policy levels.

After unanticipated adverse events, healthcare providers may experience negative emotions, such as sadness, anxiety, or anger, sometimes referred to as the "second victim" experience (SVE). In this study of 171 respiratory therapists, more than half reported they had been part of an event that resulted in SVE. Nearly three-quarters reported that short staffing played a role in their emotional distress, and half indicated COVID-19 contributed to their SVE. In line with other studies, the most desired type of support following an adverse event was talking to a peer.

Missed nursing care is a key indicator of patient safety and has been linked to safety climate. Survey responses from 3,429 labor and delivery nurses from 253 hospitals across the United States found an average of 11 of 25 aspects of essential nursing care were occasionally, frequently, or always missed. Higher perceived safety climate was associated with less missed care. The authors discuss the importance of strategies to reduce missed care, such as adequate nurse staffing, ensuring nonpunitive responses to errors, and promoting open communication.

Nurses’ willingness to speak up about resident safety concerns varies based on anticipated leadership response and support. Clinical and non-clinical staff at six Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) nursing homes with diverse safety climate ratings (high, medium, low) were interviewed to understand the association between resident safety and safety climate. Staff at high safety climate facilities described open communication and leadership responsiveness as contributors to a strong safety climate and willingness to speak up.

Drug diversion is a system issue that has the potential to disrupt patient access to safe, reliable medications and result in harm. These guidelines offer a structured approach for organizations to develop and implement drug diversion prevention efforts. The strategies submitted focus on foundational, organizational, and individual prevention actions that target risk points across the medication use process such as storage, prescribing, and waste disposal.

I-PASS is a structured handoff tool to enhance communication during patient transfers and improve patient safety. This study found that I-PASS implementation at 32 hospitals decreased major and minor handoff-related adverse events and improved key handoff elements (e.g., frequency of handoffs with high verbal quality) across provider types and settings.

People taking medications at home may have difficulty opening packaging which can result in improper, dangerous storage practices. This review includes 12 studies where participants were observed opening a variety of medication packages (e.g., blister packs, child-resistant containers). While all studies reported participant difficulty, no consistent contributory factors were identified, and the methodological quality of all studies was typically low. Additional research is required to encourage improvement in medication packaging.

Computed tomography (CT) scans are important diagnostic tools but can present serious dangers from overexposure to radiation. Researchers reviewed 133 radiation incidents reported to one NHS trust from 2015-2018. Reported events included radiation incidents, near-miss incidents, and repeat scans. Most events were investigated using a systems approach, and staff were encouraged to report all types of incidents, including near misses, to foster a culture of safety and enable learning.

Children with emergent care needs are often cared for in complex situations that can diminish safety. This joint policy statement updates preceding recommendations to enhance the safety of care to children presenting at the emergency department. It expands on the application of topics within a high-reliability framework focusing on leadership, managerial factors, and organizational factors that support safety culture and workforce empowerment to support safe emergency care for children.

Electronic health records (EHR) systems frequently interact with EHRs in other organizations, between clinical settings (e.g., in-patient and out-patient), or with devices (e.g., smart pumps). In this review, 12 studies were identified that examined the effect of EHR interoperability on patient safety. While EHR interoperability was shown to improve patient safety, outcome measure heterogeneity limits measuring true effects.

Human factors play an important role in contributing to and preventing adverse events. This study found that integrating human factors into a new root cause analysis process led to an increase in the number of strong interventions implemented after adverse events.

Parents have reported the importance of being involved in discussions with clinicians following adverse events involving their children. This study asked parents and physicians about their perspectives on inclusion of parents in morbidity and mortality (M&M) reviews. Similar to earlier studies, parents wished to be involved, while physicians were concerned that parent involvement would draw attention away from the overall purpose (e.g., quality improvement) of M&M conferences.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a rapid transition of healthcare from in-person to remote and virtual care. This review assessed the safety and effectiveness of pulse oximetry in remote patient monitoring (RPM) of patients at home with COVID-19. Results show RPM was safe for patients in identifying risk of deterioration. However, it was not evident whether remote pulse oximetry was more effective than other virtual methods, such as virtual visits, monitoring consultations, or online or paper diaries.

Medication errors during pediatric resuscitation are common. Using video recordings of simulated pediatric resuscitations, the researchers explored deviations in care related to the delivery of intravenous medicine. Findings suggest that deviations play a crucial role in intravenous medication administration errors, and deviations were more likely to occur during the use of an online injectable medicine guideline.

Missed nursing care appears to be associated with higher rates of adverse events. More than 3,600 registered nurses (RNs) were surveyed about missed care during labor and birth in the United States. Three aspects of nursing care were reported missing by respondents: thorough review of prenatal records, missed timely documentation of maternal-fetal assessments, and failure to monitor input and output.