The National Quality Forum has defined 29 never events—patient safety problems that should never occur, such as wrong-site surgery. Since 2003, Minnesota hospitals have been required to report such incidents. The 2022 report summarizes information about 572 adverse events that were reported, representing a significant increase in the year covered. Earlier reports prior to the last two years reflect a fairly consistent count of adverse events. The rise documented here is likely due to demands on staffing and care processes associated with COVID-19 and general increases in patient complexity and subsequent length of stay. Pressure ulcers and fall-related injuries were the most common incidents recorded. Reports from previous years are available.

Patient suicide is a sentinel event. This report examines a suicide incident that identified problems with risk assessment and identification, family engagement, and medication management in the context of mental health provision when supporting patients in psychological distress.

Pediatric mental health is a patient safety concern. This news story outlines the challenges to available services to address this need, tactics to keep young patients from harming themselves or others, and system-level approaches to improvement.

Behavioral health workers are particularly susceptible to burnout, which sets the stage for unsafe care. This guide highlights organizational strategies to amend six thematic conditions in the behavioral health setting that degrade worker wellbeing: workload; control; reward, promotion, and career development; community; fairness; and values.