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Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) are a target of safety improvement initiatives, as they are common and harmful. This guideline provides an update on recommended steps for organizations to support the implementation of CLASBI reduction efforts.

Reducing healthcare-acquired infections is an ongoing patient safety goal. In this study, researchers used structured observations to explore factors contributing to healthcare-related infections in nursing homes in one region of Italy. Findings highlight the need to improve the physical care environment (e.g., room ventilation), handwashing compliance, and appropriate use of antibiotics.

Stewardship interventions seek to optimize use of healthcare services, such as diagnostic tests or antibiotics. This article reports findings from a 14-site multidisciplinary collaborative evaluating pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) blood culture practices before and after implementation of a diagnostic stewardship intervention. Researchers found that rates of blood cultures, broad-spectrum antibiotic use, and central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) were reduced postintervention.

Social distancing policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic challenged healthcare system leaders and providers to balance infection prevention strategies and providing collaborative, team-based patient care. In this article, four primary care clinics made changes to the clinic design, operational protocols, and usage of spaces. Negative impacts of these changes, such as fewer opportunities for collaboration, communication, and coordination, were observed.

Inpatient falls are a common patient safety event and can have serious consequences. This study used hospital safety reporting system data to characterize falls in perioperative settings. Falls represented 1% of all safety reports between 2014 and 2020 and most commonly involved falls from a bed or stretcher. The author suggests strategies to identify patients at high risk for falls, improve fall-related training for healthcare personnel, and optimize equipment design in perioperative areas to prevent falls.

Maternal morbidity and mortality continues to be a significant patient safety problem. This mixed-methods study identified system-level factors affecting registered nurses during care of people in labor experiencing clinical deterioration. Task overload, missing or inadequate tools and technology, and a crowded physical environment were all identified as performance obstacles. Improving nurse workload and involving nurses in the redesign of tools and technology could provide a meaningful way to reduce maternal morbidity.

Changes in healthcare delivery and care processes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have increased the risk for falls. This study explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of a fall prevention program (focused on human factors and ergonomics principles) on inpatient fall rates at one hospital in Hong Kong. Findings indicate that fall rates significantly increased from pre-COVID to during the first wave of the pandemic (July-June 2020). The fall prevention program – implemented in July 2020 – led to a reduction of fall rates, but not to pre-pandemic levels.

Medical errors in the neonatal intensive care unit threaten patient safety. This children’s hospital implemented a robust process improvement program (RPI, which refers to widespread dissemination of process improvement tools to support staff skill development and identify sustainable improvements) to reduce harm in the neonatal intensive care unit. The program resulted in significant and sustainable improvements to staff confidence and knowledge related to RPI tools. It also contributed to improvements in health outcomes, including healthcare-acquired infection.

Patient falls are considered a never event and can result in serious injury. This study retrospectively reviewed inpatient falls resulting in injury and the strength of the improvement recommendations proposed after investigation of the event. The researchers classified 8.5% of recommendations as ‘strong’ (i.e., environmental modifications, equipment/process redesign), 35.7% as ‘medium’ (i.e., changing documentation process and/or skill mix, providing education) and 55.8% as ‘weak’ (i.e., alerts or warnings).

The role of healthcare disparities in patient safety is an emerging priority. This article summarizes disparities in preventable harm and outlines solutions to reducing inequalities in patient safety at the individual-, leadership-, and system-levels, such as identifying clear chains of accountability for adverse events and improving incident measurement and analysis specific to marginalized patient groups.

Patient falls represent a significant cause of patient harm. This study explored the causes of falls resulting in harm among patients with dementia receiving or referred to occupational therapy (OT). Eighty root cause analyses (RCAs) were included in the analysis. Of these events, three-quarters resulted in hip fracture and 20% led to death. The authors conclude that earlier OT evaluation may decrease the frequency of falls among older adults with dementia.

Maternal morbidity and mortality remains a major public health concern, particularly among pregnant people of color. This US hospital established a multi-disciplinary committee, the obstetric Quality and Peer Review Committee (OBQPRC), to review all cases of severe maternal morbidity (SMM). This article compares the pre- and post-intervention periods to determine if rates of potentially preventable SMM decreased. While there was no difference in SMM rates pre- and post-intervention, the rate of potentially preventable events significantly decreased after implementation of routine review of all SMM.  

Implementation of electronic health records (EHR) has shown both patient safety benefits and unanticipated challenges. Researchers interviewed patient safety officers, nurses, physicians, and other clinicians who use EHR to assess their perspectives on its impact on patient safety. Most clinicians reported both benefits and challenges, but views varied by role (e.g., nurses found EHR documentation efficient, while physicians found it time-consuming).