COVID-19 has increased uncertainties in sectors across health care. This article discusses a variety of supply-chain factors that impact medication availability. The author suggests roles for pharmacists in antibiotic stewardship and policy implementation to manage shortages safely.

High-alert medications have the potential to cause serious patient harm if not administered correctly. Reporting on challenges to medication safety in the context of home, hospital, and cancer care, this news article recommends patient and health care professional education and support for collaboration with pharmacists as avenues for improvement.

Having family members or patient advocates present during hospitalizations can help prevent errors. This newsletter article suggests that utilizing this risk prevention strategy in peripheral care areas such as radiology and other testing units could also prevent patient harm. Recommendations to ensure success of this approach include communicating with advocates, encouraging them to speak up, and activating a rapid response to patient deterioration.

Pediatric cardiac surgery is highly technical and risky. This newspaper article reports on a poorly performing pediatric cardiac surgery program, concerns raised by staff, and insufficient response from organizational leadership. Lack of data transparency, insufficient resources, and limited program capabilities to support a complex program contributed to poor outcomes for pediatric patients.

This commentary describes how one health system worked to combat resistance to change associated with implementation of a checklist initiative. The success of the program was built on empowering team members to drive the process, clinician motivation to provide safe care, and engaging leadership. A PSNet interview with Lucian Leape discussed surgical safety checklists.

Nuisance alarms, interruptions, and insufficient staff availability can hinder effective monitoring and response to acute patient deterioration. This news article reports on how hospital logistics centers are working toward utilizing artificial intelligence to improve clinician response to alarms by proactively identifying hospitalized patients at the highest risk for heart failure to trigger emergency response teams when their condition rapidly declines.

Medication safety officers serve as organizational champions of medication management process improvement. This news article offers two examples of health care organizations that positioned medication safety officers as leaders in their systems. The piece describes improvements stemming from employment of medication safety officers at these organizations.

Aviation continues to provide inspiration for patient safety innovation. This commentary describes a 10-minute team huddle exercise which involves team members rating their own mood status and the leader asking if there are any contextual concerns. In addition, two team members select "knowledge cards" that either test the person's knowledge or assign the person to proactively watch for improvement opportunities during the shift. The results encouraged sharing, situational awareness, and team building.

Reporting on the importance of a supportive workplace environment that engages employees in tasks to help ensure safety, this news article discusses root causes for low staff morale in the laboratory environment and suggests tactics to build healthy staff relationships.

This article details how a community liaison pharmacist who works with clinicians in hospitals can help reduce readmissions.

This magazine article explores the role of coaches in helping high-performing professionals, such as musicians and athletes, improve their performance. By submitting to observation in the operating room, the author—a surgeon—examines how coaching might enhance physicians' skills.

This piece reports on the prevalence of medication errors in the emergency department and suggests expanding pharmacy involvement as a strategy to reduce risks.