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Strategies to reduce clinician burnout related to adverse events are critically needed. Physicians in the United States were surveyed on their experiences with adverse events to identify facilitators and barriers to reducing burnout. A common facilitator was peer support, and barriers included shame and a punitive work environment.

Health profession schools are increasingly using interprofessional simulation-based education (IP-SBE) for learners to understand each other’s roles in team-based care. Learners’ ability to feel psychologically safe during IP-SBE is necessary for full learner participation. This scoping review analyzed 27 studies of psychological safety within IP-SBE. Learners were more likely to feel safe in well-designed simulations with facilitators who are experienced in pre- and de-briefing. Barriers to psychological safety included hierarchy, being observed, uncertainty, and poorly designed and delivered simulations.

Communication with patients and caregivers is important after a diagnostic error. Using a simulated case involving delayed diagnosis of breast cancer, this study compared how crowdsourced laypeople and patient advocates rate physician disclosure communication skills. Findings suggest that patient advocates rate communication skills more stringently than laypeople, but laypeople can correctly identify physicians with high and low communication skills.

Autopsies following unexpected deaths can provide valuable insights and learning opportunities for improving patient safety. In 2017, the National Health Service (NHS) implemented “Learning from Deaths” (LfD) to report, learn from, and avoid potentially preventable deaths. Through interviews with policy makers, managers, and senior clinicians responsible for implementing the policy, this study reports on how contextual factors influenced implementation of the LfD policy.

Readmission reduction as an improvement measure has been found to be problematic as a maternal safety outcome. This statement shares concerns regarding incentivizing hospitalization reductions after birth and explores the potential for patient harm due to pressures to reduce readmissions when needed.

Transitions from one electronic health record (EHR) system to another can increase the risk of patient safety events. Using the principles of requisite imagination, this article outlines six recommendations for safe EHR transitions through proactive approaches, process improvement and support for healthcare workers.

Strong physician leadership during clinical crisis can help improve patient outcomes. In this randomized controlled trial, obstetrics-gynecology and emergency medicine residents participated in one of three study arms using high-fidelity mannequins. One study arm received a bespoke leadership curriculum, one received a modified version TeamSTEPPS curriculum, and the third received no leadership training. Participants in both curriculum arms improved leadership scores from “average” before the training to “good” following the training and continuing to six months. The control arm remained unchanged at “average” before and after.

The inherent power imbalance between supervisors and new clinicians may inhibit new clinicians from asking questions or reporting mistakes. This lack of psychological safety can result in patient harm and restrict learning. This article provides strategies for healthcare educators and leaders to model and guide a safer organization. Three phases of the supervisor-learner relationship, along with suggested prompts, are provided.

Inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics to treat viral illnesses is an ongoing patient safety threat. This study examined the association between clinician depression, anxiety, and burnout and inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics for acute respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in outpatient care. Depression and anxiety, but not burnout, were associated with increased adjusted odds of inappropriate prescribing for RTIs.

Early warning systems (EWS) use patient data from the electronic health record to alert clinicians to potential patient deterioration. Twelve months after a new EWS was implemented in one hospital, nurses were interviewed to gather their perspectives on the program experience, utility, and implementation. Six themes emerged: timeliness, lack of accuracy, workflow interruptions, actionability of alerts, underappreciation of core nursing skills, and opportunity cost.

Clinical decision support (CDS) systems are designed to improve diagnosis. Researchers surveyed emergency department physicians about their evaluation of human factors-based CDS systems to improve diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Although perceived usability was high, use of the CDS tool in the real clinical environment was low; the authors identified several barriers to use, including lack of workflow integration.

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.

The term “second victims” describes clinicians who experience emotional or physical distress following involvement in an adverse event. Nurses and midwives were interviewed about “moving on” from the impact of a critical incident. Five main themes were identified: Initial emotional and physical response, the aftermath, long-lasting repercussions, workplace support, and moving on. Lack of organizational support exacerbated the nurses’ and midwives’ responses.

Alert fatigue contributes to task burden and can threaten patient safety. In this study, researchers at one academic medical center found that machine learning techniques could enable intelligent filtering of medication alerts and reduce alert volume by 54%.