Children with emergent care needs are often cared for in complex situations that can diminish safety. This joint policy statement updates preceding recommendations to enhance the safety of care to children presenting at the emergency department. It expands on the application of topics within a high-reliability framework focusing on leadership, managerial factors, and organizational factors that support safety culture and workforce empowerment to support safe emergency care for children.

Potential deterioration of older surgeons' technical performance is a patient safety concern. This guidance developed from a Society of Surgical Chairs panel discussion puts forth several steps to manage the transition of aging surgeons. Recommendations include mandatory cognitive and psychomotor testing for surgeons age 65 and older, respectful consideration of the financial and emotional concerns of aging surgeons, and lifelong mentoring around the transition from clinical to nonclinical roles. The authors anticipate that such initiatives will prompt thoughtful support for aging surgeons that ensures patient safety. In an accompanying editorial, an older physician supports mandatory testing and suggests individual-level steps to address aging as a surgeon, including healthy lifestyle and financial habits.

Overexposure to clinical alarms can contribute to burnout, errors of omission, and staff fatigue. This guideline suggests improvements for both frontline nurses and nursing leaders to enhance the management of electrocardiogram and pulse oximetry monitoring to reduce false alarms and alarm fatigue.

Suicide among hospitalized patients remains an under-recognized never event, as it has ranked among the most common sentinel events reported to The Joint Commission over the past decade. While specialized psychiatric units are designed and staffed to minimize suicide risk, emergency departments and general medical wards are not, and prior research has shown that a significant proportion of inpatient suicide attempts occur in these settings. This Sentinel Event Alert reviews risk factors for inpatient suicide and delineates prevention strategies hospitals can use to minimize risk. A case of an inpatient suicide attempt on a general medical ward is discussed in this AHRQ WebM&M commentary. Note: This alert has been retired effective February 2016. Please refer to the information link below for further details.

This alert provides recommendations for minimizing the risk of anesthesia awareness. Note: This alert has been retired effective June 2016. Please refer to the information link below for further details.