Current Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) duty hour regulations limit resident work hours (no more than 80 hours per week or 24-28 consecutive hours on duty) in an effort to improve both resident and patient safety. This nationally representative survey found that over 90% of US adults disagree with the current duty hour policies, with 66% of respondents supporting additional limits on duty hours (to no more than 40 hours per week or 12 consecutive hours).

Increases in clinician workload can increase the risk of medical errors. This survey of Swedish community pharmacists found that while perceived workload increased and work environment decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no perceived impact on patient safety. Findings underscore the importance of effective communication between management and frontline healthcare workers during crises.

Resilience in healthcare focuses on enabling individuals and teams to respond to emergent problems without compromising safety. This review-of-reviews examines the definitions of resilience across the hierarchical levels of healthcare (e.g., individual, team, organizational, community). The authors describe an interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral, multi-level conceptual framework for healthcare resilience which includes resilience activities before, during, after, and across events.

Previous research has found that women often experience mistreatment and discrimination during maternity care. This CDC analysis of survey data for 2,402 respondents found that approximately one in five women experienced at least one type of mistreatment during maternity care (i.e., being ignored or refused, being shouted at or scolded, having their physical privacy violated). Nearly 29% of respondents reported experiencing at least one form of discrimination during their maternity care (i.e., age-, weight-, income-, or race/ethnicity-based discrimination).

Individual-, team-, and systems-based factors can affect safety during childbirth. This article discusses several patient safety threats that can hinder the safety of vaginal birth after cesarean (VAC) deliveries in high population density areas, including staffing and resource limitations, cultural and human factors, and patient communication.

Many healthcare professionals experienced adverse emotional and psychological outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. This survey of 665 health system pharmacists found that pharmacists working in settings with higher levels of workplace wellness support were less likely to experience depression, anxiety, or burnout, and report higher levels of professional quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated many existing patient safety challenges. This retrospective analysis of 477 fatal COVID-19 cases at one hospital in Poland found that one-third of patients experienced a healthcare-acquired infection during their hospitalization as well as other hospital-acquired complications, including thrombolytic and/or bleeding complications, acute kidney injury, and exacerbation of chronic heart disease. The analysis also found that many patients experienced delays in specialist treatment (33%) or lack of specialist treatment (17%) during their hospitalization.

Stigma and bias in healthcare undermine patient safety. This article discusses how stigma associated with alcohol use can impede the delivery of quality health care and contribute to poor patient outcomes. 

Many patients were unable to access care during the pandemic, particularly during surges. This longitudinal cohort study in the UK reports that 35% of participants reported disrupted access to care (e.g., cancelled or postponed appointments or procedures). While overall rates of potentially preventable hospitalization were low (3%), those who reported disrupted access had increased risk of potentially preventable hospitalization.

Implicit biases and stigma can impede the delivery of safe, high-quality healthcare. This article outlines the ways in which stigma create barriers to effective care for patients with obesity (use of stigmatizing language, provider-held negative weight-based attitudes, lack of patient-centered communication, patient avoidance, and/or delay of care). The authors propose several strategies to reduce weight stigma in health care, including stigma-reduction education and training interventions.

Racial and ethnic biases can affect diagnosis and negatively impact patient safety. Based on a sample of over 700,000 veterans, this study found that Black and Hispanic individuals consumed similar amounts of alcohol to White individuals but were more likely to be diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (AUD).