Allegations are increasing, that doctors fail when obtaining consent, to ensure that the patient understands the information. Obtaining consent is central to the patient doctor relationship. In the USA, doctors write the acronym “PARQ” in medical notes to demonstrate they have discussed “procedure” (what it entails), “alternatives” (including nothing), “risks” (of the procedure ...

In today's complex and rapidly changing health care environments, patient harm may result if important patient information is not communicated from one health care provider to another during handoffs in care. Issues involving communication, continuity of care, and care planning are cited as a root cause in more than 80% of reported sentinel events. In light of the inherent risks associated with...

Intrahospital transport of critically ill patients must be considered as part of the critical care continuum. The level of care provided must be commensurate with the severity of illness. These transfers are intensive in terms of utilization of personnel and resources. Advance preparation and optimal coordination of the transport process go a long way toward safer transfers of the critically ill.

The use of oxytocin, a high-alert medication, has increased dramatically in recent years as induction rates have risen. Methods for administration of oxytocin and subsequent outcomes have long been a source of debate. Furthermore, one of the leading causes of obstetrical liability claims involves the administration of oxytocin leading to tachysystole. This article describes how a collaborative ...

The evidence shows that notwithstanding efforts by health professionals and hospital managers to improve the quality and safety of healthcare, adverse events remain prevalent. Clinical supervision is understandably dominated by transferring discipline knowledge and skills but the environment today requires equal attention to integrating patient safety concepts and principles into clinical super...

In order to improve patient safety, health services are looking to other industries' experiences and as a result are adopting a systems approach to learning from error, rather than simply focusing the blame on the individual. However, in health care the individual will remain an important contributor to safety and this paper looks at other literatures besides health to consider a number of indi...

O ver the past decade, an emerging body of literature established a link between nurses’ working conditions and their ability to provide safe care. Nurses who are not at their best are both prone to making errors themselves, and less able to serve as effective ‘‘safety nets’’ for their patients, intercepting errors made by physicians and others. Excessive nurse workloads predict an increased ra...