Pressure ulcers or PrUs represent a serious problem for patients within the acute care setting, and a significant care management challenge for clinicians. Also known as bed sores, pressure ulcers…

Sharon Denning, M.S., R.N., C.N.A., is the director of the HealthPartners Simulation Center. In this interview, she discusses her decision to make the transition from her nursing career to become the Center’s director, shares her views on…

Patient safety has always been a serious matter in healthcare. After all, it is called health “care” for a reason. What has changed over the past few years is the degree of scrutiny applied to clinical organizations regarding patient safety records and the public’s demand for improvement.

Around 400 B.C., Hippocrates penned his famous oath binding himself to an unwavering commitment to his patients’ well-being. Throughout history and today, medical institutions have adopted the Oath of Hippocrates as proclamation of their dedication to compassionate and skilled patient care.

Integrity refers to a state of being or level of action where there is soundness — where correctness and consistency are maintained in behavior as well as data. Characterized both as the internal accuracy and consistency of a process, integrity serves as the disposition and foundation that drives our choices and actions.

At first glance, you may have wondered why we have an airplane on the cover of this issue. I hope by now you’ve seen that we have an article by Dr. Kirk Harmon on how lessons from aviation safety may be applied to medicine; thus the airplane.

U.S. aphorist Mason Cooley said, “Theory can leave questions unanswered, but practice has to come up with something.” Nowhere does this apply better than the increasingly prevalent practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM).

Introducing computerized physician order entry (CPOE) to a healthcare setting is more than just a complex technological undertaking. It represents a resolve to fundamentally change the way care is delivered, affecting everyone in the organization from administrators to clinicians to patients.

Involving patients in the safety of their care has been suggested as a strategy for reducing medical errors for some time. Patient-centered care was lauded as a key element of quality in Crossing the Quality Chasm (IOM, 2000).

In healthcare systems, medication errors are among the leading causes of preventable errors, with a reported inpatient incidence of 5.7% (Kaushal, Bates, Landrigan, et al., 2001).