Nursing is foundational to safe patient care. This statement outlines recommendations for the nursing community to support the World Health Organization Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030. Tactics described target, governmental, organizational, and individual actions for improvement.

Inadvertent overprescribing and polypharmacy in the 65-year old or older patient population is a contributor to patient harm. The Beers criteria serve as standard guidance for clinicians to prevent the potential for Inappropriate medication prescribing. This guideline updates existing recommendations and simplified the listing by removing rarely used medications in the geriatric population.

Anticoagulant medications are known to be high-risk for adverse drug events. Although direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) require less monitoring than warfarin, they are still associated with an increased risk of patient harm if not prescribed and administered correctly. The Joint Commission has issued a new sentinel event alert to raise awareness of the risks related to DOACs, and in particular, the challenges associated with stopping bleeding in patients on these medications. The alert suggests that health care organizations develop patient education materials, policies, and evidence-based guidelines to ensure that DOACs and reversal agents are used appropriately. A past WebM&M commentary discussed common errors related to the use of DOACs.

Poor safety culture and lack of available resources to provide high-quality care can hinder safety in long-term care facilities. This set of regulations will revise requirements for long-term care facilities in areas such as clinical practice standards, service delivery, patient-centeredness, and infection control. The deadline for officially submitting comments on the proposed rule was September 14, 2015.

This bill requires that Pennsylvania hospitals and nursing homes implement an internal infection control plan and report hospital-acquired infections.

In this statement, AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy reviews the work of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and other health care entities to build support for research and improvements in patient safety.