Patient Safety in Healthcare Quiz

• The goal of safety in health care is to minimize risk of harm to patients and providers.
• There are many ways to achieve this, including through system effectiveness and individual performance.
• Some common safety-enhancing technologies include barcodes, Computer Provider Order Entry, medication pumps, and automatic alerts/alarms.
• Effective strategies to reduce reliance on memory include forcing functions, checklists, and standardization/reliability.
• Value the contributions of standardization/reliability to safety.
• Communicate observations or concerns related to hazards and errors to patients, families, and the health care team.
• Use organizational error reporting systems for near miss and error reporting.
• Value own role in preventing errors.
• Engage in root cause analysis rather than blaming when errors or near misses occur.
• Value vigilance and monitoring (even of own performance of care activities) by patients, families, and other members of the health care team.
• Discuss potential and actual impact of national patient safety resources, initiatives and regulations.
• Use national patient safety resources for own professional development and to focus attention on safety in care settings.

Test your knowledge about patient safety in healthcare with this quiz. Explore concepts such as safety-enhancing technologies, strategies to reduce reliance on memory, error reporting systems, root cause analysis, and the impact of national patient safety resources and regulations.