Current Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) duty hour regulations limit resident work hours (no more than 80 hours per week or 24-28 consecutive hours on duty) in an effort to improve both resident and patient safety. This nationally representative survey found that over 90% of US adults disagree with the current duty hour policies, with 66% of respondents supporting additional limits on duty hours (to no more than 40 hours per week or 12 consecutive hours).

Patient safety is a global health concern. For this study, representatives from 27 countries reported on rules, laws, and policies in their country related to adverse events and medical errors. As expected, laws varied widely between countries regarding issues such as apology laws, patient compensation schemes, and legal and emotional support for clinicians involved in adverse events.

Individual-, team-, and systems-based factors can affect safety during childbirth. This article discusses several patient safety threats that can hinder the safety of vaginal birth after cesarean (VAC) deliveries in high population density areas, including staffing and resource limitations, cultural and human factors, and patient communication.

When the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, access to safe reproductive care was restricted even for patients with wanted or non-viable pregnancies. This study describes trends in early pregnancy-related emergency department visits prior to the court decision and how new restrictions have resulted in physician uncertainty and delays in care in states with abortion bans. The authors recommend physicians be mindful of Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) when caring for pregnant individuals in the emergency department.

Poor nurse staffing has long been recognized as a patient safety issue. This analysis of three UK National Health Service hospitals examined the differences in in-hospital deaths among different nursing team sizes and compositions. Researchers identified higher inpatient mortality with higher nurse staffing and seniority levels (i.e., more registered nurses [RNs]) but no changes in mortality related to health care support workers (HCSW). Authors surmised that HCSWs may not be a substitute for RNs.

Prisons present unique challenges in providing, as well as in measuring, safe patient care. This article describes structures and processes within prison systems that may contribute to avoidable harm, such as limited staffing and security to travel to healthcare appointments. The result is a two-tier definition taking into consideration the unique context of prison healthcare.

Healthcare workers (HCW) and patients can experience negative psychological impacts following medical error; the negative impact can be compounded when workers and patients are prevented from processing the error. This study explored interactions between patients/families and HCWs following a medical error, highlighting barriers to communication, as well as the need for training and peer support for HCWs. Importantly, HCW and patients/families expressed feeling empathy towards the other and stressed that open communication can lead to healing for some.

Analysis of closed malpractice claims can be used to identify potential safety hazards in a variety of clinical settings. This analysis of closed emergency department malpractice claims indicates that diagnostic errors dominate, and clinical judgment and documentation categories continue to be associated with a higher likelihood of payout. Subcategories and contributing factors are also discussed.

While research shows that better nurse staffing ratios are associated with improved patient outcomes, policies setting minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals are rarely implemented. In 2016, select Queensland (Australia) hospitals implemented minimum nurse staffing ratios. Compared to hospitals that did not implement minimum nurse staffing ratios, length of stay, mortality, and readmission rates were significantly lower in intervention hospitals, providing evidence, once again, that minimum staffing ratios can improve patient outcomes. 

Transitions of care represent a vulnerable time for patients. This survey found that safety in mental healthcare transitions (hospital to community) is perceived differently by patients, families, and healthcare professionals. While clinical indicators (e.g., suicide, self-harm, and risk of adverse drug events) are important, patients and families also highlighted the social elements of transitional safety (e.g., loneliness, emotional readiness for change).

The authors of this article suggest that offering palliative care services earlier should be considered a patient safety issue. They highlight three cases in which patients in Canada requested medical assistance in dying (MAiD). The patients in two of the cases were never offered palliative care services, and this could be considered a medical error – had they been offered palliative care services, they may have changed their mind about MAiD, as did the patient in the third case study.

This commentary discusses the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on the physical, emotional, and mental health on the healthcare workforce and outlines five high-priority actions at the organizational- and national level to protect the health and wellbeing of the healthcare workforce during and after the pandemic.  

Patient safety is a concern throughout the entire process of care from admission to discharge. This article highlights the role of risk managers to assure that patients return to a home environment that can enable their safe recovery whether the discharge is advised or not. 

As many as half of all clinicians may be involved in a serious adverse event during their career, and these events may have profound professional consequences. This systematic review examined the effect of patient complications on surgeons' well-being. Patient complications had significant adverse consequences for surgeons' emotional health, to which surgeons responded with coping mechanisms ranging from adaptive (discussing cases with colleagues or utilizing professional support) to maladaptive (alcohol or substance use). Studies reported varying perceptions of institutional support. Many surgeons derived benefit from the support of trusted mentors or senior colleagues after a serious patient complication, but lack of formal organizational support was commonly noted. Surgeons reported taking various corrective actions after a complication, such as personal development and system-level quality improvement efforts. The authors make several recommendations for helping surgeons after complications, including developing formal structures to aid surgeons in the coping process. Books by British neurosurgeon Dr. Henry Marsh and patient safety leader Dr. Atul Gawande explore the professional and personal consequences of adverse events in vivid detail.

California's Medicaid pay-for-performance program requires safety-net health care systems to report and improve upon diverse ambulatory safety measures. Researchers found that participating safety-net hospitals struggled to report accurate data. Systems had more success improving metrics that placed patients at risk of life-threatening harm when compared to metrics that required longer term follow-up or patient engagement.

Home healthcare is an increasingly viable option for patients who requires the complex care skills of caregivers. This commentary discusses the Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act as a policy lever to ensure family caregivers have the training they need to provide safe care.

Multiple factors in the hospital environment influence the incidence of missed nursing care. This commentary describes strategies to address these errors of omission, including changing mental models to recognize the financial benefit of increasing staffing levels to improve patient safety.