All Content

This Primer provides an overview of the history and current status of the patient safety field and key definitions and concepts. It links to other Patient Safety Primers that discuss the concepts in more detail.

At two different hospitals, patients were instructed to continue home medications, even though their medication lists had errors that could have led to significant adverse consequences.

Housestaff evaluate and admit a severely ill patient with lupus, suspect a viral syndrome, and do not initiate antibiotics. Despite discovery of the correct diagnosis in the morning by the attending, the patient dies.

An unclear verbal order leads to administration of the wrong drug.