All Content

This guidance outlines design elements that reduce errors associated with medication labels. Improvements suggested include tall-man lettering use, look-alike / sound alike avoidance and abbreviation minimization.

In this continuing series, high-performance work practices are explored and defined through literature review, case analysis, and research. The authors summarize findings and discuss how best practices can influence quality, safety, and efficiency outcomes. Topics covered include speaking up, central line infection prevention, and business case development.

Intent to harm is a primary factor in the criminalization of patient injury. This article discusses the increase of criminal legal action to medical error and its negative affect. The author summarizes alternative strategies for addressing clinician responsibility for harmful errors and suggests improvements in current approaches to avoid the use of prosecutorial methods to hold those involved accountable for harm.

The overprescribing of prescription opioids heightens the likelihood of opioid dependence and harm. This report shares data from 25 countries to provide a baseline for the current crisis. The publication illustrates the complexity of the opioid epidemic and suggests that system-focused multisector strategies are required to address the problem.

Transparency has been heralded as a cornerstone to improvement in health care. This news article reports on a government alternative summary reporting program that allowed medical device makers to conceal safety events and malfunction reports associated with medical devices. A new program that expands access to information about device-related failures will be put in place.

Punitive responses to medical errors persist despite continued efforts to reduce them. This news article reports on an incident involving the mistaken use of a neuromuscular blocking agent that resulted in the death of a patient, the prosecution of the nurse who made the error, and systemic and human factors that contribute to similar events.

This report suggests that the field of patient safety needs to be reframed for the public. The report recommends that patient safety professionals, experts, and advocates define patient safety, explain the prevalence of medical errors, and describe solutions. The authors emphasize that sharing the systems approach to improvement can help patients understand how patient safety issues can be prevented. They encourage continued use of the aviation metaphor to illustrate why medical errors occur and how to address them. The authors urge patient involvement with a focus on concrete activities, but they recommend avoiding the term "patient empowerment." An Annual Perspective discussed how patient engagement, when done correctly, can help health care systems identify safety hazards, regain trust after they occur, and codesign sustainable solutions.

Reporting on the criminal indictment of a nurse involved in the death of a patient, this newsletter article reviews factors that contributed to the failure, urges leadership to modify the use of blame tactics in response to medical mistakes, and highlights guidelines to prevent similar incidents.

Usability issues, poor design, and lack of effective instruction hinder safe use of medical equipment. This news article reports on problems associated with ambulatory use of insulin pumps submitted to a Food and Drug Administration database.

This issue highlights innovations that can be applied in a variety of health care environments to prevent hospital-acquired conditions. The resources include the Chartbook on Patient Safety and checklist, decision support, and screening programs.

Insufficient sterilization of duodenoscopes and other medical equipment has been linked to health care–associated infection outbreaks. This report summarizes findings from a government investigation into existing methods for monitoring and reporting device problems and provides recommendations for Congress, hospitals, and the Food and Drug Administration to augment identification and prevention of safety issues associated with medical devices.

Standard use of metric oral dosage instructions has been advocated as a medication safety strategy. Raising concerns around dosing cups that include drams and ounces as scales—measures no longer in clinical use—which are available from major vendors and may be found in health care facilities, this announcement recommends use of oral syringes that only measure in milliliters for oral liquid medications to prevent errors.

This radio news segment reports on patient falls, including risk factors and prevention strategies.