The PSNet Collection

New AHRQ SOPS® Workplace Safety Supplemental Items for Hospitals.

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Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; December 16, 2021.

The release of the Workplace Safety supplemental items for use in conjunction with the AHRQ Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture™ helps hospitals assess how their organizational culture supports workplace safety for providers and staff. This webinar provided background on the importance of workplace safety and introduce the Workplace Safety supplemental items.

Workplace Safety Supplemental Item Set for Hospital SOPS.

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Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2021.

The AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS®) Hospital Survey Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture ask health care providers and staff about the extent to which their organizational culture supports patient safety. The release of the Workplace Safety Supplemental Item Set for use in conjunction with the AHRQ Hospital Survey helps hospitals assess how their workplace culture supports workplace safety for providers and staff. Included with the data set is a report of the pilot test of the finding.

Zero Suicide Initiative.

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Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration. Fed Register. November 3, 2021;(86):60883-60893.

Patient suicide attempts are considered never events. This funding announcement calls for program applications to motivate suicide prevention strategy implementation in the indigenous peoples’ community. The effort anchors on the Zero Suicide initiative to address unique challenges presented by the Indian health system.

AHRQ announces interest in research on digital healthcare safety.

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Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Special Emphasis Notice. October 28, 2021 Publication No. NOT-HS-22-004.

Digital information tools are increasingly relied upon to assist in care communication and decision support, yet their safety hasn’t been fully examined. This announcement highlights AHRQ interest in funding research on the safe use of digital information solutions with a focus on program implementation, system design, and usability.

Lessons Learned? Building a Culture of Patient Safety Within the Veterans Health Administration.

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US House of Representatives Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health. 117th Cong. 1^st Sess (2021).

The Veterans Health Administration is a large complex system that faces various challenges to safe care provision. At this hearing, government administrators testified on current gaps that detract from safe care in the Veteran’s health system. The experts discussed several high-profile misconduct and systemic failure incidents, suggested that the culture and leadership within the system overall enables latency of issues, and outlined actions being taken to address weaknesses.

An Investigation into the Death of Baby J at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.

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Manchester, UK: Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman; October 2021.

This report examines a premature infant death associated with failings of antibiotic administration, deterioration recognition and action on family concerns both during treatment and post-incident. The report issues a series of recommendations building on standard remediation guidance in the United Kingdom.

Hospital Performance Report.

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Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services.

Detailing results of an error reporting initiative in New Jersey, these reports explain how consumers can use this information and provides tips for safety when obtaining health care. A section highlights findings related to patient safety indicators.

Safer Services: A Toolkit for Specialist Mental Health Services and Primary Care.

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National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health. Manchester, UK: University of Manchester; May 31, 2021

System failures require multifactorial assessment to install targeted improvements. This toolkit examines 10 areas of focus for organizations to assess the safety of mental health services in emergent and primary care settings to minimize patient suicide and self-harm. Areas of focus include post-discharge follow-up, admissions, and family engagement.

Malnutrition in Hospitalized Adults: A Systematic Review.

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Uhl S, Siddique SM, McKeever L, et al. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; October 2021. AHRQ Publication No. 21(22)-EHC035.

Patient malnutrition is an underrecognized threat to patient safety. This report provides a comprehensive evidence analysis on the patient malnutrition literature, the relationship of in-hospital malnutrition to patient harm across patient groups and tactics for measurement of the problem to design and assess the impact of interventions.

PACT Collaborative: Pathway to Accountability, Compassion and Transparency.

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Ariadne Labs, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Communication and Resolution Programs (CRP) are a promising strategy for managing the aftermath of medical harm. This 18-month collaborative will help participants engage leadership, implement CRP processes, build patient partnerships and establish measurement approaches to gauge the success of CRP efforts. The program will launch in 2022 and applicants will be informed of participation status no later than December 10, 2021.

Digital Clinical Safety Strategy

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NHSX, NHS Digital, NHS England, et al. London, England: Crown Copyright; September 2021.

Digital clinical technologies hold promise for care improvement while contributing to potential failures due to the lack of collective guidance to assess and measure if they are safe. This document provides background on digital safety. It shares an approach that aligns with the United Kingdom system safety strategy to situate its priorities and support the strategy.

Potential for medication overdose with ENFit low dose tip syringe: FDA Safety Communication.

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MedWatch Safety Alert. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration; October 12, 2021.

This announcement highlights the possibility of medication administration inaccuracy due to design characteristics of a low dose tip (LDT) syringe. Recommended cleaning methods and other actions for patients, families and clinicians are provided to protect dose precision when using these syringes.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

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Drug Enforcement Administration. October 23, 2021.

Removing unused medications from the home can help prevent accidental exposure to unneeded medications and limit their availability for misuse. This annual program provides patients with an opportunity to discard medications safely. The sponsors also provide education to highlight the importance of appropriate disposal of unused prescription drugs as a medication safety activity.

National Patient Safety Goals.

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The Joint Commission.

The National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) are one of the major methods by which The Joint Commission establishes standards for ensuring patient safety in all health care settings. In order to ensure health care facilities focus on preventing major sources of patient harm, The Joint Commission regularly revises the NPSGs based on their impact, cost, and effectiveness. Major focus areas include promoting surgical safety and preventing hospital-acquired infections, medication errors, inpatient suicide, and specific clinical harms such as falls and pressure ulcers.

State of Care.

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Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK: Care Quality Commission; October 2021.

This website provides access to an annual report that summarizes National Health Service hospital and social care performance across a range of care quality metrics at both the trust and service level. Most facilities were found to be improving their care quality and basic performance was found to be high. However the latest report found substantial gaps in mental health care delivery that affect the safety of patients.

Agency information collection activities: National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN); comment request.

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Zirger JM, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fed Register. September 27, 2021;86:53309-53312.

Tracking healthcare-associated infection (HAI) data aids in national, regional, and organizational design of HAI improvement efforts. This notice calls for public comment on the continuation of the National Healthcare Safety Network HAI information collection process. The comment period closes November 26, 2021.

Training Program for Nurses on Shift Work and Long Work Hours.

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NIOSH [2015]. NIOSH training for nurses on shift work and long work hours. By Caruso CC, Geiger-Brown J, Takahashi M, Trinkoff A, Nakata A. Cincinnati, OH: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2015-115 (Revised 10/2021)

Nurse fatigue has been associated with diminished decision-making skills that can contribute to patient harm. This online training program for clinicians and administrators will explore hazards related to nurse fatigue and provide strategies to address behaviors and systems that increase these risks.

Letter to Health Care Providers: Safe Use of Surgical Staplers and Staples.

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US Food and Drug Administration. October 7, 2021.

Errors of commission during complex procedures can contribute to patient harm. Drawing from an analysis of medical device reports submitted to the Food and Drug Administration, this updated announcement seeks to raise awareness of common adverse events associated with surgical staplers and implantable staples. User-related problems include opening of the staple line, misapplied staples, and staple gun difficulties. Recommendations include ensuring availability of various staple sizes and avoiding use of staples on large blood vessels.

The Contribution of Diagnostic Errors to Maternal Morbidity and Mortality During and Immediately After Childbirth: State of the Science.

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Bajaj K, de Roche A, Goffman D. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; September 2021. AHRQ Publication No. 20(21)-0040-6-EF.

Maternal safety is threatened by systemic biases, care complexities, and diagnostic issues. This issue brief explores the role of diagnostic error in maternal morbidity and mortality, the preventability of common problems such as maternal hemorrhage, and the importance of multidisciplinary efforts to realize improvement. The brief focuses on events occurring during childbirth and up to a week postpartum.

Good for You, Good for Us, Good for Everybody.

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Overprescribing has attained prominence as a safety issue due to the current opioid epidemic, but it has long reduced medication safety across the spectrum of health care. The report examines the systemic and cultural issues that contribute to overprescribing and recommends a governmental leadership position to drive change and implement deprescribing and other reduction initiatives.

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