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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.

Stop using these adult bed rails, warns the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

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Treisman R. National Public Radio. June 6, 2022

Bedrails are used in hospitals and at home to minimize falls despite the potential to contribute to patient harm. This news article summarizes a government recall of ten models of home bed rail devices due to entrapment incidents.

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.

Adopt strategies to manage look-alike and/or sound-alike medication name mix-ups.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. June 2, 2022;27(11):1-4.

Minimizing look-alike/sound-alike medication risk is a universal need across health care. This story highlights a primary prevention tool that lists problematic drug names. It shares strategies across the medication use process to reduce errors associated with similarly named and labeled medications such as separate storage areas and tall man lettering.

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.

CMS proposal to suppress hospital safety data angers advocates — agency says COVID disruptions, staff shortages hamper ability to fairly score poor performers.

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Clark C. MedPage Today. May 20, 2022.

Public reporting of safety measures is considered a hallmark of health care transparency. This article discusses a proposed change to reporting requirements in the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP). The change would limit the sharing of patient safety indicator data that informs Care Compare and hospital Medicare reimbursements.

4 actions to reduce medical errors in U.S. hospitals.

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Toussaint JS, Segel KT. Harvard Business Review. April 20, 2022.

The patient safety movement has had mixed results in sustaining improvement and commitment. This commentary discusses strategies to instigate continued energy toward reducing medical error: prioritization of patient safety as a hospital imperative, formation of a National Patient Safety Board, installation of a single national body for incident reporting, and implementation of electronic health record learning systems that flag potential risks.

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.

At US hospitals, a drug mix-up is just a few keystrokes away.

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Kelman B. Kaiser Health News. April 29, 2022.

Technological solutions harbor unique risks that can result in patient harm. This article shares a response to reports of automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) menu selection limitations that contribute to mistakes. The piece suggests the implementation of a 5-letter search requirement prior to removing a medication from an ADC. It provides an update on industry response to this forcing function recommendation.

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.

Criminalization of human error and a guilty verdict: a travesty of justice that threatens patient safety.

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ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. April 7, 2022; 27(2):1-6.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) highlights the negative impacts the recent criminal conviction of a nurse could have for patient safety, including fear of reporting errors and clinicians leaving the profession.

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.

As a nurse faces prison for a deadly error, her colleagues worry: could I be next?

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Kelman B. Kaiser Health News. March 22, 2022

Criminalization of medical mistakes typifies the blame-focused approach patient safety leaders have worked to reduce in health care. This article covers a high-profile case of medication error involving an automated dispensing system that is ubiquitous in health care.

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.

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.

Medicare penalizes dozens of hospitals it also gives five stars.

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Rau J. Kaiser Health News. February 8, 2022.

Rating systems face challenges to accurately represent the safety and quality of patient care. This article discusses inconsistent results between national rating systems and those organizations penalized by the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program though reduction of Medicare payments for hospitals recording certain adverse events.

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