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.
Sharma AE, Yang J, Del Rosario JB, et al. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2021;47:5-14.
Ambulatory care settings are receiving increased attention as a focus for patient safety improvements. Using data from a multistate patient safety organization (PSO) database, the researchers sought to characterize patterns and characteristics of patient safety incidents reported in ambulatory care settings. Analyses found that 5.9% of events resulted in severe harm and 1.9% resulted in patient death. Over half of the events were from outpatient subspecialty care; fewer events occurred in home/community (5.2%), primary care (2.1%), or dialysis (2.0%) settings. Medication-related events were most common, followed by clinical deterioration and falls. Predictors of higher harm included diagnostic errors, patient/caregiver challenges, and events occurring in home/community or psychiatric settings. These results can help ambulatory care settings target safety events and develop systems-level prevention strategies.
A woman with a history of psychiatric illness presented to the emergency department with agitation, hallucinations, tachycardia, and transient hypoxia. The consulting psychiatric resident attributed the tachycardia and hypoxia to her underlying agitation and admitted her to an inpatient psychiatric facility. Over the next few days, her tachycardia persisted and continued to be attributed to her psychiatric disease. On hospital day 5, the patient was found unresponsive and febrile, with worsening tachycardia, tachypnea, and hypoxia; she had diffuse myoclonus and increased muscle tone.
Chasnoff IJ, Wells AM, King L. Pediatrics. 2015;135:264-70.
Diagnostic errors are a known cause of preventable adverse events. The vast majority of children ultimately determined to have fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in this cohort study had been previously misdiagnosed, despite having undergone clinical evaluation for developmental or behavioral problems.
Admitted to the hospital complaining of difficulty breathing and swallowing, a Vietnamese man was diagnosed with reflux disease and an outpouching of the esophagus. The patient was anxious and repeatedly stated that he was "dying" from his physical ailments. During a gastroenterology consultation, the patient ran to the restroom and jumped out the window, killing himself.
Cullen SW, Nath SB, Marcus SC. Psychiatr Q. 2010;81:197-205.
The authors used focus groups and interviews to develop a taxonomy of errors in inpatient psychiatry and explore underlying systems causes of the errors. Medication errors, diagnostic errors, and failure to prevent patient harm (such as suicide attempts) were among the common types of errors identified.
López J, Baca E, Botillo C, et al. Actas Esp Psiquiatr. 2008;36:205-9.
This study examined diagnostic errors during the initial course of bipolar disease and discovered low rates of diagnostic accuracy at initial presentation and low rates of those maintaining the diagnosis.
A young woman with borderline personality disorder hospitalized following a suicide attempt is allowed to leave the hospital and attempts suicide again.
Yeager KR; Saveanu R; Roberts AR; et al. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention. 2005.5(2):121-141
The authors present a proactive, systems-oriented approach to assessing patient risk for suicide and self harm. This approach integrates numerous components, including patient evaluation, physical environment, program safety, and the patients themselves.