Patient Safety Authority

09/18/2026

One week left to apply for our fall 2026 writing workshop!

Submit your application by September 25, 2026! Our free online Master Class Writing Workshop in Quality Improvement Studies teaches you how to turn your QI project into a manuscript.

09/17/2026

Today is World Patient Safety Day ( ). The World Health Organization (WHO) has made “Safe care for life!” the slogan for this year, focusing on addressing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs): long-term conditions that cannot spread from person to person—like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease—which often require ongoing, lifelong care.

To help ensure safe care for NCDs, WHO has proposed a set of goals to facilitate action for improvement at the point of care. Health facilities, organizations, healthcare leaders, managers, and practitioners can use these to reduce harm and improve safety for people living with NCDs:

1. Partner with people with lived experience and civil society
2. Strengthen prevention and risk assessment
3. Provide early detection, accurate diagnosis, and integrated management
4. Secure access and safe medication and medical device use
5. Strengthen care coordination, continuity, and transitions of care

Please review and share the following resources and journal articles to join in improving safety for pediatric patients:

World Patient Safety Day 2026 is focused on addressing noncommunicable diseases, which are long-term conditions that cannot spread from person to person, like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

09/16/2026

Falsifying data, fabricating references, peer-reviewing your own manuscript. There’s no shortage of ways that someone can damage the integrity of scientific research. Enter Ivan Oransky, MD, co-founder of Retraction Watch: an online database tracking published manuscripts that have been retracted for myriad reasons. Efforts like Retraction Watch are often some of the first—and last—lines of defense protecting knowledge and truth.

This is international Peer Review Week (September 14–18), an annual...

09/16/2026

This is international Peer Review Week (September 14–18), an annual celebration of the role of peer review in publishing, a process in which experts evaluate manuscripts for both their scientific accuracy and research value in their field. Peer review helps safeguard the quality and integrity of data—and when it comes to medical research, it can even affect patients' lives.

To highlight the importance of peer review, especially in articles relating to healthcare and patient safety, and discuss the challenges facing peer review (including volume, speed, and quality), PATIENT SAFETY interviewed Ivan Oransky, MD, co-founder of RETRACTION WATCH: an online database tracking published manuscripts that have been retracted for myriad reasons. Falsifying data, fabricating references, authors peer-reviewing their own manuscript—they've seen it all. Efforts like RETRACTION WATCH are often some of the first, and last, lines of defense protecting knowledge and truth.

By Ivan Oransky, Caitlyn Allen. Falsifying data, fabricating references, peer-reviewing your own manuscript. There’s no shortage of ways that someone can damage the integrity of scientific research.

09/11/2026

Have you participated in a quality improvement project that impacted patient care?

Don’t forget the next step: Publishing the results of your QI project is an important but often overlooked way to benefit patients beyond the walls of your facility. Sharing your work can help other facilities learn from and replicate it.

Writing an academic article may not be as hard—or take as much time—as you think. Join our free, online Master Class Writing Workshop in Quality Improvement Studies and we will teach you the skills you need to turn your QI project into a publishable manuscript!

Learn more and apply for the fall session by Friday, September 25, at

Submit your application by September 25, 2026! Our free online Master Class Writing Workshop in Quality Improvement Studies teaches you how to turn your QI project into a manuscript.

09/10/2026

Although su***des and attempted su***des that happen on inpatient psychiatric units present unique challenges to patient safety, most studies in the last 25 years have focused on patient populations outside the United States, which feature different rules, practices, resources, and cultures that may influence their findings. Many of these studies also included incidents that occurred off the unit, such as when patients absconded or shortly after discharge. In contrast, the present study draws attention to su***de-related events in the United States, specifically events reported in Pennsylvania from 2016 to 2025 that only occurred on the inpatient psychiatric unit.

This overlooked focus provides fresh insights into the demographics, methods, objects, locations, and temporal patterns involved with on-unit su***de-related events. For example, of the 143 event reports studied, 130 (91%) were attempted su***des and 13 (9%) were su***des, and 57% involved female patients; however, 85% of the completed su***des were by male patients. Neck compression was used in 57% of cases, and su***des by this method frequently involved ligature points. Events typically occurred in private areas, such as bedrooms and bathrooms, and most occurred within the first five days of admission, from October to March, during the evening shift (3 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.). These trends reveal opportunities for further study and strategies to prevent su***de-related events on inpatient psychiatric units.

Read more: https://patientsafetyj.com/article/164861 ***dePreventionDay

09/10/2026

Today is ***dePreventionDay, organized by the International Association for Su***de Prevention and co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO). For the last three years, the theme has been Changing the Narrative on Su***de, and this year’s call to action is to “Start the Conversation” by challenging myths; reducing stigma; and encouraging open, compassionate discussion about su***de.

Please review and share the following resources and journal articles to learn more and help start the conversation:

The goal of World Su***de Prevention Day is to raise awareness that su***de can be prevented. This year's them calls everyone to "Start the Conversation."

09/03/2026

We are now open to applications for our fall Master Class Writing Workshop in Quality Improvement Studies!

👉🏽 Did your facility complete a project to improve patient care? If you publish your work, other facilities can learn from it and replicate your success.

👉🏽 Our free, online workshop teaches healthcare workers to write quality improvement studies and submit them for publication.

👉🏽 Learn more and apply by Friday, September 25, for our fall 2026 session:

Submit your application by September 25, 2026! Our free online Master Class Writing Workshop in Quality Improvement Studies teaches you how to turn your QI project into a manuscript.

09/03/2026

September is Su***de Prevention Awareness Month:

Although su***des and attempted su***des that happen on inpatient psychiatric units present unique challenges to patient safety, most studies in the last 25 years have focused on patient populations outside the United States, which feature different rules, practices, resources, and cultures that may influence their findings. Many of these studies also included incidents that occurred off the unit, such as when patients absconded or shortly after discharge. In contrast, the present study draws attention to su***de-related events in the United States, specifically events reported in Pennsylvania from 2016 to 2025 that only occurred on the inpatient psychiatric unit.

This overlooked focus provides fresh insights into the demographics, methods, objects, locations, and temporal patterns involved with on-unit su***de-related events. For example, of the 143 event reports studied, 130 (91%) were attempted su***des and 13 (9%) were su***des, and 57% involved female patients; however, 85% of the completed su***des were by male patients. Neck compression was used in 57% of cases, and su***des by this method frequently involved ligature points. Events typically occurred in private areas, such as bedrooms and bathrooms, and most occurred within the first five days of admission, from October to March, during the evening shift (3 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.). These trends reveal opportunities for further study and strategies to prevent su***de-related events on inpatient psychiatric units.

Read more in this new article at PATIENT SAFETY:

By Matthew A. Taylor, Shawn Kepner. Although su***des and attempted su***des that happen on inpatient psychiatric units present unique challenges to patient safety, most studies in the last 25 years have focused on patient populations outside...

09/02/2026

ICYMI: Bullying and disruptive behaviors in healthcare undermine teamwork, communication, and trust, ultimately placing patients at risk. This webinar examined how these behaviors affect patient safety and offered practical strategies to promote a safer, more respectful workplace environment.

Shirley Dominick, MSN, RN-BC, patient safety advisor at the Patient Safety Authority, led this engaging educational session. Participants learned to define bullying and recognize bullying behaviors, understand how these behaviors compromised patient safety, and identify strategies to address and reduce workplace bullying.

Watch "Bullying in Healthcare: A Disruptive Force Linked to Compromised Patient Safety":

Bullying and disruptive behaviors in healthcare undermined teamwork...