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A culture of safety in nursing homes has been linked to improved resident care. The authors describe how the alignment of regulatory oversight and surveys could integrate with just culture to improve resident safety.  

This qualitative study explored the impact of published inspection frameworks on quality and safety in nursing home care, dental care, and hospital care. Respondents noted the importance of the inspection framework design, the role of existing institutional frameworks, and how the frameworks can influence quality improvement across various organizational levels.

Information technology (IT) is prevalent across healthcare settings. This study used publicly available nursing home data and a survey on IT sophistication to identify the relationship between nursing home health deficiencies and IT sophistication. Results indicate health deficiencies decreased as IT sophistication increased, suggesting investment in IT could lead to further patient safety benefits in nursing homes.

Safety concerns are common in long-term care (LTC) facilities. This qualitative study of LTC nurses explored nurses’ experiences managing patient safety incidents (PSI). Three categories were identified: commitment to resident safety, workplace culture, and emotional reaction. Barriers and facilitators were also discussed.

It is important to consider unintended consequences when implementing new tools, such as health information technology (HIT). This study reviewed 2,700 patient safety event reports to identify the type of medication error, the stage in the process in which the error occurred, and how HIT usability issues contributed to the errors. Errors in dosing were the most frequent type, and occurred during ordering or reviewing. Most errors described usability issues which should be considered and addressed to improve medication safety.

Racial bias and racism are increasingly seen as a critical patient safety issue. In this article, the authors outline the components of systemic racism (structural/institutional, cultural, and interpersonal), how they manifest and affect the long-term care system, and the detrimental impact of systemic racism on Blacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health information technology (HIT) can promote patient safety in many settings. This systematic review found that HIT, such as computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems, can improve safe prescribing practices in long-term care settings, including improved documentation and clinical processes, and fewer medication errors.

Prior research has found that high nursing staff turnover is associated with lower patient safety culture. Starting in July 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began collecting daily staffing data for US nursing homes and found that nurse turnover rates were correlated with facility location, for-profit status, Medicaid patient census, and star ratings. This information can be leveraged by policymakers, payers, and healthcare consumers and may incentive efforts to reduce nursing staff turnover.

Polypharmacy in older adults is common and may increase risk of medication-related adverse events. This study found that an intervention combining educational training, tailored health information technology, and a therapy check process improved medication appropriateness in nursing home residents.  

To reduce diagnostic errors, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) recommends increasing nursing engagement in the diagnostic process. This article reviews the current state of diagnostic education in nursing training and suggests inter-professional individual and team-based competencies to improve diagnostic safety.