Skip to main content

The PSNet Collection: All Content

The AHRQ PSNet Collection comprises an extensive selection of resources relevant to the patient safety community. These resources come in a variety of formats, including literature, research, tools, and Web sites. Resources are identified using the National Library of Medicine’s Medline database, various news and content aggregators, and the expertise of the AHRQ PSNet editorial and technical teams.

Search All Content

Search Tips
Selection
Format
Download
Filter By Author(s)
Advanced Filtering Mode
Date Ranges
Published Date
Original Publication Date
Original Publication Date
PSNet Publication Date
Additional Filters
Approach to Improving Safety
Clinical Area
Safety Target
Selection
Format
Download
Displaying 1 - 20 of 119 Results
May 4, 2023
The implementation of effective patient safety initiatives is challenging due to the complexity of the health care environment. This curated library shares resources summarizing overarching ideas and strategies that can aid in successful program execution, establishment, and sustainability.
Curated Libraries
October 10, 2022
Selected PSNet materials for a general safety audience focusing on improvements in the diagnostic process and the strategies that support them to prevent diagnostic errors from harming patients.
Ghaith S, Campbell RL, Pollock JR, et al. Healthcare (Basel). 2022;10:1328.
Obstetric and gynecologic (OB/GYN) physicians are frequently involved in malpractice lawsuits, some of which result in catastrophic payouts. This study categorized malpractice claims involving OB/GYN trainees (students, residents, and fellows) between 1986 and 2020. Cases are categorized by type of injury, patient outcome, category of error, outcome of lawsuit, and amount of settlement.
Steffany M. J Healthc Risk Manag. 2022;41:31-38.
Concerns have been raised regarding the need to assess the competencies of aging physicians. This article discusses how different entities (e.g., health systems, states, and professional medical organizations) are addressing this issue through competency-based assessments, peer review, and credentialing requirements.
Curated Libraries
September 13, 2021
Ensuring maternal safety is a patient safety priority. This library reflects a curated selection of PSNet content focused on improving maternal safety. Included resources explore strategies with the potential to improve maternal care delivery and outcomes, such as high reliability, collaborative initiatives, teamwork, and trigger tools.
MedWatch Safety Alert. Silver Spring, MD: US Food and Drug Administration; August 20, 2021.
This announcement seeks to raise awareness of the potential risks associated with the use of robotic-assisted surgical devices in mastectomies or cancer-related care. Recommendations for patients who may seek to have robotically assisted surgery include asking about their surgeon's experience with these procedures and discussing benefits, risks, and alternatives regarding available treatment options with their health care provider. Suggestions for health care providers include completing specialized training on procedures they perform. A WebM&M commentary described the challenges and benefits associated with robotic surgery.

Cleghorn E. New York, NY: Dutton; 2021. ISBN: 9780593182956.

Women have been affected by implicit bias that undermines the safety of their care and trust in the medical system. This book shares the history anchoring the mindsets driving ineffective care for women and a discussion of the author’s long-term lupus misdiagnosis.
Erkelens DC, Rutten FH, Wouters LT, et al. J Patient Saf. 2022;18:40-45.
Delays in diagnosis and treatment during after-hours care pose serious threats to patient safety. This case-control study compared missed acute coronary syndrome (ACS) cases to other cases with chest discomfort occurring during out-of-hours services in primary care. Predictors of missed ACS included the use of cardiovascular medication, non-retrosternal chest pain, and consultation of the supervising general practitioner.   
Lam BD, Bourgeois FC, Dong ZJ, et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2021;28:685-694.
Providing patients access to their medical records can improve patient engagement and error identification. A survey of patients and families found that about half of adult patients and pediatric families who perceived a serious mistake in their ambulatory care notes reported it, but identified several barriers to reporting (e.g. no clear reporting mechanism, lack of perceived support).  

Office of the Inspector General. Washington, DC: Department of Veterans Affairs; July 28, 2020. Report Number 19-07507-214.

Patient suicide is a never event. This report analyzes the death of a veteran after presenting at an emergency room with suicidal ideation. The analysis found lack of both suicide prevention policy adherence and appropriate assessment, as well as a lack concern for the patient’s condition contributed to the failure.   
Schuelke S, Aurit S, Connot N, et al. Nurs Adm Q. 2020;44:280-287.
The COVID-19 pandemic increased delivery of virtual care through mechanisms such as remote triage and video consultation. This article describes the results of a multi-site study examining the impact of a virtual nursing care team on missed nursing care. Findings indicate the missed care and reasons for missed care remained consistent during pre- and post-implementation, and further research is necessary to explore the impact of virtual nursing.
Loftus TJ, Tighe PJ, Filiberto AC, et al. JAMA Surg. 2019;155:148-158.
Artificial intelligence (AI) can inform decision making and reduce diagnostic uncertainty. These authors discuss challenges in surgical decision-making– such as complexity, time constraints and uncertainty – and how AI can be leveraged using the EHR and mobile devices to overcome these challenges and augment surgical decision-making.
Kremer MJ, Hirsch M, Geisz-Everson M, et al. AANA J. 2019;87.
This thematic analysis identified 123 events comprising malpractice claims in the closed claims database of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) Foundation that the investigators determined could have been prevented by the Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist involved. Among the factors identified as being associated with preventable events were communication failures, violations of the AANA Standards for Nurse Anesthesia Practice, and errors in judgment.
de Lima A, Osman BM, Shapiro FE. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2019;32.
Office-based anesthesia (OBA) is being performed more commonly internationally. This narrative literature review updates the evidence related to the safety of OBA and makes recommendations for safe practices including; medical directors to be responsible for evidence-based policies, OBA safety and patient checklists emergency procedures, physical setting requirements, pharmacological management, preoperative procedures, airway management and others. The authors identify that lack of consistent regulations and incomplete protocol standardization is problematic.
Shah NA, Jue J, Mackey T. Ann Surg. 2020;271:431-433.
Collecting real-time audio, video, and system data enables identification of process vulnerabilities. This commentary discusses the current state of black box approaches to collect surgical procedure data in situ and highlights challenges to its effective use and implementation to improve surgical safety.
Potential deterioration of an aging surgeon's technical abilities is an emerging patient safety concern. This magazine article discusses how implementing policies and activities to assess the ability of surgeons to practice safely after a certain age can prevent risks.
Goldenberg MG, Elterman D. World J Urol. 2019;38:1369-1372.
The perioperative setting is a high-risk environment where process weaknesses and human error can contribute to patient harm. This article discusses strategies to reduce risk of perioperative error, such as standardization and surgical checklists. The authors highlight the use of video technology as a promising strategy to improve perioperative safety.
Pandya C, Clarke T, Scarsella E, et al. J Oncol Pract. 2019;15:e480-e489.
Care transitions and handoffs represent a vulnerable time for patients, as failure to communicate important clinical information may occur with the potential for harm. In this pre–post study, researchers found that implementation of an electronic health record tool designed to improve the handoff between oncology clinic and infusion nurses was associated with a reduction in medication errors, shorter average patient waiting time, and better communication between nurses.
McDonald EG, Wu PE, Rashidi B, et al. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2019;67:1843-1850.
This pre–post study compared patients who received medication reconciliation that was usual care at the time of hospital discharge to patients in the intervention arm who had decision support for deprescribing. Although the intervention did lead to more discontinuation of potentially inappropriate medications, there was no difference in adverse drug events between groups. The authors suggest larger studies to elucidate the potential to address medication safety using deprescribing decision support.