The PSNet Collection

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.

Research from webAIRS incident reporting system.

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Anaesth Intensive Care. 2023;51(6):372-421.

Centralized de-identified reports of patient safety events serve a core purpose for learning and improvement. This article collection contains research drawn from the Australian/New Zealand webAIRS database. Data reviewed include cesarean and pediatric regional anesthesia incidents submitted to webAIRS over a 13-year period.

Technology, Education and Safety

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Arnal-Velasco, D, ed. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2023;36(6):649-705.

Adoption of new ideas is necessary to create safety in the perioperative environment. This collection of reviews illustrates relationships and tensions between technology, human factors and safety management that create the sociotechnical system within which technology is used to deliver anesthesia. Topics covered include artificial intelligence, decision making and perioperative deterioration.

Perioperative Safety Culture: Principles, Practices, and Pragmatic Approaches.

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McEvoy MD, Abernathy JH, 3rd. Anesthesiol Clin. 2023;41(4):xvii-xix;693-886.

Organizational, unit, and team culture affect the safety of surgical care. This special issue examines overarching principles, common practices, and practical actions that support safe perioperative processes and settings. Topics discussed include team dynamics, operating room design, and high reliability.

2022 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards.

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Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2023;49(9):435-450.

The legacy of AHRQ leader John Eisenberg, MD, still inspires safety improvement work decades after his passing. This special issue highlights the efforts of the 2022 Eisenberg Award honorees and their impact on improving patient safety and quality. The 2022 award recipients coved here include Jason S. Adelman, MD, MS, and North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA).

Perioperative Handoffs.

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Abraham J, Rosen M, Greilich PE eds. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2023;49(8):341-434.

Handoffs occur several times during a surgical procedure, increasing the risk of communication mistakes and misunderstandings. This special issue explores perioperative handoffs and strategies to improve them. Topics covered include information accuracy, teamwork science, and artificial intelligence.

Patient Safety/Quality Improvement Primer.

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Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2018-2023.

Otolaryngology-head and neck surgery is vulnerable to wrong site errors and other challenges present in surgical care. This series of articles highlights key areas of importance for the specialty as they work to enhance patient safety. The latest 2023 installment covers measurement.

TQIP Mortality Reporting System Case Reports.

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ACS TQIP Mortality Reporting System Writing Group. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2023.

Anonymous case reporting provides opportunities to examine unexpected patient harm instances to pinpoint process changes and enhance learning. This case series shares analysis of adverse events submitted to a trauma center-focused reporting program as tools for improvement. The cases are freely available.

Curated Libraries

Implementation of Patient Safety Projects Curated Library

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.

Technology, Education and Safety.

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Arna D, ed. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2022;35(6):710-737.

Safety challenges in anesthesiology and perioperative care are high-risk situations. This segment of a reoccurring special section covers strategies for improvement such as use of databases to monitor safety, expansion of safety improvement efforts to perioperative care, and cognitive aid use enhancement.

Curated Libraries

Diagnostic Safety

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.

Eliminating Unintentionally Retained Surgical Items - Special Report.

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Saver C. AORN J. 2022;116(2):111-132.

Retained surgical items (RSI) are regarded as “never events” but are a persistent cause of patient harm. This three-part series discusses the RSI problem, RSI prevention efforts, and the role of human factors in unintended retention of surgical objects.

Technology, Education and Safety.

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Ruskin KJ, ed. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2021;34(6):720-765

Anesthesia services are high risk despite progress made in the specialty to improve its safety. This special section covers issues that affect anesthesia safety such as critical incident debriefing, human factors, and educational strategies.

Diagnostic Excellence in the ICU: Thinking Critically and Masterfully.

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Bergl PA, Nanchal RS, eds. Crit Care Clin. 2022;38(1):1-158.

Critical care diagnosis is complicated by factors such as stress, patient acuity and uncertainty. This special issue summarizes individual and process challenges to the safety of diagnosis in critical care. Articles included examine educational approaches, teamwork and rethinking care processes as improvement strategies.

Safety and Quality in Perioperative Anesthesia Care.

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Preckel B, ed. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2021;35(1):1-154.

The field of anesthesiology has realized impressive improvements in safety, yet challenges still exist in its practice. This special issue provides discussions on a variety of concerns that require continued effort, including use of early warning scores, differences associated with sex and gender, and use of incident reporting systems.

Technology, Education and Safety.

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Ruskin KJ, ed. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2020;33(6):774-822.

The complexity of care delivery requires complementary approaches to prevent mistakes. This special section shares clinical and organizational tactics to address anesthesiology safety issues. They include automation failures, the role of the obstetric anesthesiologist in maternal safety, and monitoring effectiveness.

Management of Operating Room Critical Events.

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Hannenberg AA, ed. Anesthesiol Clin. 2020;38(4):727-922.

Anesthesiology critical events are uncommon, and yet they have great potential for harm. This special issue focuses on management of, and preparation for, perioperative critical events and rescue should they occur. The authors highlight simulation training, debriefing, and cognitive aids as methods for improving safety in the operating room.

Patient Safety.

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Halamek LP, ed. Semin Perinatol. 2019;43(8):151172-151182.

The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a complex environment that serves a vulnerable population at increased risk for harm should errors occur. This special issue draws from a multidisciplinary set of authors to explore patient safety issues arising in the NICU. Included in the issue are articles examining topic such as video assessment, diagnostic error, and human factors engineering in the NICU.

Emerging Concepts in Patient Safety.

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Shapiro FE, ed. Int Anesthesiol Clin. 2019;57:1-162.

This publication presents patient safety concepts for anesthesia practice, including decision aids to educate and empower patients about anesthesia choice, environmental hazards, interpersonal communication, team training, and use of technology and simulation as educational tools.

Special Section on Human Factors and Ergonomics in the Operating Room: Contributions That Advance Surgical Practice.

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Hallbeck MS, Paquet V, eds. Appl Ergon. 2019;78:248-308.

Surgery requires specialized approaches to understand and prevent failure. This special issue features the work of multidisciplinary research teams that explored human factors and ergonomic concerns in the operating room that affect communication between robotic-assisted surgery teams, physical resilience of teams, instrument design and use, and poor implementation of briefings as improvement opportunities.

Patient Safety.

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Todd DW, Bennett JD, eds. Oral Maxillofac Surg Clin North Am. 2017;29:121-244.

Articles in this special issue provide insights into how human error can affect the safety of oral and maxillofacial surgery, a primarily ambulatory environment. The authors cover topics such as simulation training, wrong-site surgery, and the safety of office-based anesthesia.

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