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.

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 924 Results

The racial disparities in maternal mortality and impact of structural racism and implicit racial bias on pregnant black women: a review of the literature.

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Montalmant KE, Ettinger AK. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2023;Epub Nov 13.

The increased risk of maternal morbidity and mortality among Black women in the United States is a patient safety and public health crisis. This literature review of 42 articles highlights the importance of cultural competence and disparities training for obstetric providers to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity among Black women. The authors also highlight the need for increased awareness regarding the increased risk of cardiovascular diseases among pregnant Black women.

When Taking an SGLT2 inhibitor, Remember To SSTOP (Stop SGLT2 Inhibitor Three days bef-O-re Procedures)!

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WebM&M Case November 30, 2023

A 67-year-old man with well-controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus underwent elective cardiac resynchronization and defibrillator device (CRT-D) implantation. The procedure was successful and he was discharged the next day with instructions to resume his prior medications, including empagliflozin. He presented to the emergency department the following day where he was diagnosed with euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis (eDKA) and he was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) for insulin infusion.

Public opinion of resident physician work hours in 2022.

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Weaver MD, Barger LK, Sullivan JP, et al. Sleep Health. 2023;Epub Nov 6.

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).

Intravenous (IV) push medications – bridging the gap between education and clinical practice.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute Care. November 2, 2023;28(22):1-4.

Intravenous (IV) push medication administration is a primary therapeutic approach where process gaps can result in harm. This article examines existent presence of recognized safe practice education in close to 200 surveyed nursing programs to assess the teaching of standardized practice behaviors at the student level and recommend strategies to embed IV safety into instruction efforts.

CUSP Implementation Training.

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Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.

The comprehensive unit-based safety program (CUSP) approach emphasizes improving safety culture through a continuous process of reporting and learning from errors, improving teamwork, and engaging staff at all levels in safety efforts. Available on demand and live, this session covers how to utilize CUSP, including understanding and addressing challenges to implementation. The next virtual session will be held January 16, 2024.

Adverse drug event prevention and detection in older emergency department patients.

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Koehl JL. Clin Geriatr Med. 2023;39:635-645.

Older adults are at increased risk of medication errors due to medical complexity and polypharmacy. This article discusses medication safety and adverse drug events specific to a geriatric population and highlights prescribing and deprescribing tools that can contribute to safer prescribing practices.

Understanding the facilitators and barriers to barcode medication administration by nursing staff using behavioural science frameworks. A mixed methods study.

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Grailey K, Hussain R, Wylleman E, et al. BMC Nurs. 2023;22:378.

Barcode medication administration (BCMA) technology reduces risk of many types of medication errors (e.g., wrong drug, wrong patient, omission). This qualitative study of nurses in low- and high-BCMA-use hospital wards describes barriers and facilitators to use. Barriers were consistent across use levels, suggesting that team culture and accountability play a crucial role in increasing BCMA use.

Medication safety amid technological change: usability evaluation to inform inpatient nurses' electronic health record system transition.

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Reale C, Ariosto DA, Weinger MB, et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2023;38:982-990.

Barcode mediation administration (BCMA) can reduce medication errors, but workarounds can hinder its effectiveness. Using simulations, this study explored potential medication-related errors associated with BCMA during an electronic health record (EHR) transition. The study was able to identify potential problems with both the old and new systems and provide performance data against which to benchmark future system and/or workflow changes.

TeamSTEPPS Master Training Course.

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Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. January 30 and February 1, 2024.

Team training programs seek to improve communication and coordination among team members to reduce the potential for medical error. This virtual workshop will train participants to design, implement, and evaluate team training programs in their organizations based on the TeamSTEPPS model.

Curated Libraries

Patient as a Team Member in Clinical Care

October 23, 2023

This curated library highlights concepts associated with the patient as a partner for safety at the team level directly connected to personal clinical encounters.

Do junior doctors make more prescribing errors than experienced doctors when prescribing electronically using a computerised physician order entry system combined with a clinical decision support system? A cross-sectional study.

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Kalfsvel L, Wilkes S, van der Kuy H, et al. Eur J Hosp Pharm. 2023;Epub Aug 31.

Even with the use of clinical decision support systems (CDSS), clinicians can still make medication prescribing errors. This study compared frequency, type, and severity of prescribing errors between junior doctors (i.e., those in training with less than 10 years’ work experience) and consultants (i.e., not in training with 10 or more years of work experience). Overall prescribing errors were low, but junior doctors made more errors than consultants. They also made different types of errors, with junior doctors more likely to make drug-drug interaction errors and consultants making duplication therapy errors. There were no differences in severity of errors. Early education and training with computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and CDSS may reduce errors made by doctors in training.

Primary care teams' reported actions to improve medication safety: a qualitative study with insights in high reliability organising.

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Young RA, Gurses AP, Fulda KG, et al. BMJ Open Qual. 2023;12:e002350.

Improving medication safety in ambulatory care settings is a patient safety priority. This qualitative study with primary care teams across four sites in the southwestern United States explored approaches to improving medication safety. Respondents emphasized the importance of customization and individualization (e.g., simplifying medication regimens for certain patients) and described how the principles of high reliability can help teams anticipate and respond to medication safety risks.

Addressing bias in acute postoperative pain management.

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Harbell MW, Maloney J, Anderson MA, et al. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2023;27:407-415.

Provider bias may impact the pain management patients receive post-operatively. This review presents recent findings on the types and amounts of pain management patients receive. Results suggest women and people of color receive less pain medication despite reporting higher pain scores. Results regarding socio-economic status and English language proficiency bias are mixed. Implicit bias training, prescribing guidelines for all patients, and culturally competent pain management scales have all been suggested as ways to reduce provider bias and improve pain management.

Smart Healthcare Safety.

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Plymouth Meeting PA, ECRI. 2019-2023.

A wide variety of considerations must converge to inform an understanding of system vulnerabilities and the application of strategies to address them. This series of webinars covers a range of topics affecting the reliability of the health care environment. A recent presentation discussed the “5 rights of medication safety.”

The power of written word: reflection reduces errors of omission.

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Rao A, Heidemann LA, Hartley S, et al. Clin Teach. 2023;Epub Aug 26.

Accurate and complete clinical documentation is essential to high quality, safe healthcare. In this simulation study, senior medical residents responded to pages regarding sepsis or atrial fibrillation (phone encounter) and documented a brief note regarding the encounter afterwards (documentation encounter). The study found that written documentation following a clinical encounter included more important clinical information (e.g., ordering blood cultures for sepsis, placing a patient on telemetry) compared to what was discussed during the phone encounter.

Clinical triggers and vital signs influencing crisis acknowledgment and calls for help by anesthesiologists: a simulation-based observational study.

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Matern LH, Gardner R, Rudolph JW, et al. J Clin Anesth. 2023;90:111235.

Effective team communication is essential during crisis management. In this study, 60 anesthesiologists participating in a simulated perioperative anaphylaxis crisis scenario identified common clinical factors prompting crisis acknowledgement.

Pediatric ADHD medication errors reported to United States poison centers, 2000 to 2021.

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DeCoster MM, Spiller HA, Badeti J, et al. Pediatrics. 2023;152:e2023061942.

Data from the National Poison Data System is useful for describing characteristics and trends of out-of-hospital medication errors. This retrospective study describes trends in therapeutic errors involving attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications as reported to poison control centers in the United States. From 2000 to 2021, errors increased by 300%, with more than half classified as "inadvertently took or was given medication twice." Although no deaths were reported and less than 5% resulted in moderate or major medical outcomes, increased patient and caregiver education and child-resistant medication containers are needed.

Walking Out of a Hospital After Attempted Suicide

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WebM&M Case September 27, 2023

A 42-year-old man with a history of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol use disorder and anxiety disorder, was seen in the emergency department (ED) after a high-risk suicide attempt by hanging. The patient was agitated and attempted to escape from the ED while on an involuntary psychiatric commitment. The ED staff treated him as a “routine boarder” awaiting an inpatient bed, with insufficiently robust behavioral monitoring.

Are physician assistants able to correctly identify prescribing errors? A cross-sectional study.

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Gillette C, Perry CJ, Ferreri SP, et al. J Physician Assist Educ. 2023;34:231-234.

A study conducted in 2011 concluded that pharmacy students identified more prescribing errors than their medical or nursing counterparts. This study replicates the 2011 study with first- and second-year physician assistant (PA) students. The results suggest PA students, regardless of year, identified prescribing errors at similar rates to medical and nursing students, although identification rates were low for all three student groups.

Intensive care unit critical incident analysis as an objective tool to select content for a simulation curriculum.

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Yartsev A, Yang F. Simul Healthc. 2023;18:279-282.

Intensive care units (ICUs) are complex care environments at high risk for medical errors. In this retrospective study, researchers identified the occurrence of common ICU scenarios and skills during code blue events and measured trainees’ self-reported confidence in these skills. The analysis found that more than 25% of trainees reported low levels of confidence in three scenarios – familiarity with the advanced life support trolley, electrocardiogram strip interpretation, and operation of an external defibrillator. This process of integrating critical incident data with trainee self-assessment can be generalized to other clinical scenarios to create targeted education and simulation curriculum.

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