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Jones LA. The Philadelphia Inquirer. July 17, 2022.

Racial disparities and inequities detract from safe maternal care. This feature article discusses the history of obstetric care in the United States and examines the roots of unsafe care for Black mothers that perpetuate in that community today.

Medication orders with future start dates: how far away Is too far?

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Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. July 14, 2022:27(14):1-4.

Human errors that occur while interacting with electronic health record (EHR) systems can impact patients. This article discusses a keystroke error that delayed the scheduling of an antibiotic for one year. Recommendations to mitigate the potential for similar errors include risk assessment, hard stop use, and daily medication review.

Provider implicit bias: bringing awareness to clinical practice.

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Moss LD. Clinical Advisor. June 29, 2022.

Health disparities perpetuated by structural racism degrade patient safety. This article discusses the influence of implicit biases on care delivery and highlights the increased interest and research being generated to improve understanding and initiative design to reduce the impact of implicit bias on care.

Anesthesiologist group says hospitals can prevent fatal errors like Vanderbilt's.

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Clark C. MedPage Today. June 2, 2022

Transparency and discussion of errors is a hallmark of the culture needed to improve safety. This article summarizes an Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation statement directing organizations and individuals that provide anesthesia care to protect patients and encourage learning from error. It provides context through a discussion of official reports and investigations of a high-profile incident that culminated in criminal charges for the clinician involved.

Antifatness in the surgical setting.

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Andreou A. Scientific American. May 26, 2022.

Negative comments and attitudes indicate a lack of professionalism that can affect patient care. This article shares concerns about surgeon biases toward patients who are overweight and calls for clinicians to recognize the problem and address it.

Nurse Vaught sentenced for deadly medical error.

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DePeau-Wilson M. MedPage Today. May 13, 2022.

Disciplinary actions against clinicians who err continue despite awareness efforts to inhibit them. This article summarizes reaction to the sentencing of a nurse in a high-profile medication error case. It discusses reverberations throughout healthcare that will affect patient safety efforts.

Survey shows room for improvement with three new best practices for hospitals.

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Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. May 5, 2022;27(9):1-5.

Practice changes take time to be fully incorporated into daily work. This article shares survey results examining how hospitals implement best practices to enhance the safe use of oxytocin, improve vaccine administration through bar coding, and deploy multifaceted strategies to reduce high-alert medication errors. Gaps in uptake were reviewed and recommendations for improvement shared.

APSF endorsed statement on revising recommendations for patient monitoring during anesthesia.

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The APSF Committee on Technology. APSF Newsletter. 2022;37(1):7–8.

Variation across standards and processes can result in misunderstandings that disrupt care safety. This guidance applied expert consensus to examine existing anesthesia monitoring standards worldwide. Recommendations are provided for organizations and providers to guide anesthesia practice in a variety of environments to address patient safety issues including accidental patient awareness during surgery.

Woman works to end Black maternal health crisis after daughter dies after giving birth.

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Kindelan K. ABC News. April 14, 2022.

Maternal injury is a persistent challenge in the Black community. This article discusses the case of one mother whose discounted health concerns contributed to diagnostic delay and death. The piece shares social media tools to assist Black mothers in keeping themselves safe during pregnancy and after birth.

Patients should know who's operating, surgeons say.

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Laber-Warren E. MedPage Today. April 5, 2022.

Resident autonomy is an essential component to medical training, but it is not without patient safety risks. This news article highlights situations where resident autonomy should be disclosed to patients (such as instances of overlapping surgeries) and the value of transparency about the role of surgical team members.

Will prosecuting medical errors lead to a culture of silence?

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Fiore K. MedPage Today. March 28, 2022.

Experts are concerned that convictions for medical error have the potential to limit dialogue on the front line about medical mistakes. This article summarizes discussions regarding the verdict to convict a nurse due to a workaround that resulted in a medication error and patient death.

Dying for Care.

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Stein L, Fraser J, Penzenstadler N et al. USA Today. March 10, 2022.

Nursing home residents, staff, and care processes were particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. This collection of resources examines data and documentation involving one nursing home chain to reveal systemic problems that contributed to failure. It shares family stories that illustrate how COVID affected care in long-term care environments.

Bias in mental health diagnosis gets in the way of treatment.

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Garb HN. Psyche. March 22, 2022.

A wide array of biases can affect clinical judgement and contribute to diagnostic error. This article discusses the impact of implicit biases, test inaccuracy, and data weaknesses in diagnosis of mental health conditions in both children and adults. The author provides recommendations for clinicians and researchers to reduce the impact of bias on diagnosis.

A widow’s mission to change NC dental sedation rules.

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Blythe A. NC Health News. March 10, 2022

Patient harm in dentistry is receiving increased attention and scrutiny. This story covers a medication incident and the lack of safety support that contributed to the death of a patient receiving oral surgery. It discusses the response of the patient’s family and their work to change regulations for dental sedation.

Survey suggests disrespectful behaviors persist in healthcare: practitioners speak up (yet again) – Parts I and II.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. February 24, 2022; 27(4):1-5; March 10, 2022; 27(5):1-5.

Disrespect for co-workers, peers, and patients degrades safety in the care environment. Part I of this article series summarizes results from a 2021 survey as the latest installment of a long-standing examination of the prevalence of disrespectful behaviors. The results found that poor behaviors are common, a wide array of unprofessional behaviors are encountered in the workplace, and how they affect safety. Part II shares strategies to decrease the presence and impact of disrespectful behaviors in health care which include creation of confidential reporting systems and support structures.

Ensuring critical instruments and devices are appropriate for reuse.

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Quick Safety. February 14, 2022;(64):1-3.

Complete, appropriate reprocessing and sterilization of reusable medical instruments and devices is vital for infection prevention. This newsletter article shares actions to improve infection prevention, including standardized examination processes, infection preventionist involvement, and training focused on the safety impacts of incomplete processing and inappropriate reuse of single use items.

She was headed to a locked psych ward. Then an ER doctor made a startling discovery.

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Boodman SG. Washington Post. February 12, 2022.

Misdiagnosis over a long period of time can be acerbated by stigma and cognitive bias. This news story illustrates the problem of omissions due to potential stigma associated with patient mental health issues that contributed to a missed diagnosis. The author discusses how clinician experience led to flagging of a different testing approach to reveal a diagnosis that, once addressed, improved the patient's health.

Nowhere is safe: record number of patients contracted Covid in the hospital in January.

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Levy R, Vestal AJ. Politico. February 19, 2022.

Transmission of COVID-19 in the health care setting continues to be a concern. This article discusses an analysis of US government statistics tracking hospital-acquired COVID-19 infections and reasons that control efforts may be lagging, which include visitor masking choices and health care worker return to work post-COVID-19 behaviors.

Three new best practices in the 2022-2023 Targeted Medication Safety Best Practices for Hospitals.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. February 10, 2022:27(3):1-6.

Best practices evolve over time, given experience and evidence associated with their use. This article summarizes 3 new areas of focus included in current recommendations for sustaining medication safety. The new practices focus on improving the safety of oxytocin use, enhancing vaccine administration through bar coding, and implementing multifocal efforts to reduce high-alert medication errors. A survey accompanies the article to gather data on the presence of the new recommendations in the field.

Start the year off right by addressing these top 10 medication safety concerns from 2021

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Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. January 27, 2022;27(2):1-6.

Medication errors are a consistent threat to safe patient care. This newsletter article analyzes events submitted to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices in 2021 and highlights those that are COVID-related or common, yet preventable, if practice recommendations and system improvements are applied.

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