Surviving clinical errors in practice

Veterinary healthcare needs to talk more about error: For the wellbeing of our patients and medical teams

Over the past 2 decades, patient safety has become an established priority in human healthcare. There is a large body of research in human medicine on harm caused by healthcare, its impact, and interventions to prevent it. There are also numerous guidelines, policies, and regulations to improve safety. An important realization has been that the same errors that harm patients can also harm members of the healthcare team. Empathetic handling of safety incidents can have positive effects on both the wellbeing of providers and their care of patients. An essential element in patient safety is the creation of a "culture of safety" within the health care team. A strong culture of safety describes a work environment where risk is acknowledged, individuals can report errors without fear of punishment, and the organization has a commitment to collaboratively implementing system changes to prevent future errors. A key element of safety culture is ensuring that healthcare team members are supported and asked to help create solutions for safer care. The principles of safety science and practices to improve safety have not yet been widely adopted in veterinary medicine. We describe a case of a serious medication error and how it was handled to illustrate key components of a culture of safety and a system-based approach to improvement. This case is timely as a recent review of patient safety events in 3 veterinary hospitals found medication-related errors to be the most frequently reported events. Open conversations about safety events and errors that can harm not only our patients but also our healthcare teams will help veterinary professionals learn from their mistakes, support members of the team, and prevent future harm.

Assessment of Epidemiological Safety in the Cosmetic Service Industry in Poland: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study

The variety of current cosmetic procedures has increased the potential risks of adverse events and infections. In a nationwide cross-sectional study (2013-2015), we assessed the aspects of infection risk in cosmetic services. An anonymous voluntary questionnaire survey was conducted among 813 employees of cosmetic establishments in Poland. The establishments were selected from a register of service providers. The survey was conducted by employees of the State Sanitary Inspectorate during an audit, and the results showed that cosmetic providers were not fully prepared for risk assessment in terms of occupational exposure or infection transmission. The majority of the respondents (84%) reportedly washed the salon tools. Some establishments did not perform any decontamination (2%) or sterilization (~13%) procedures. Occupational punctures or lacerations occurred from needles, ampoules-syringes, or razors. Most respondents had attended professional training or studied medical textbooks. Approximately 1.7% of the respondents had not updated their knowledge, and 5% gained knowledge from unauthorized sources.The project's results impacted a variety of innovations and improvements in the field of public health. The results were used to update the national education program (2012-2017); more attention has been directed toward effective education in infection prevention, general hygiene, and post-exposure procedures. Moreover, the study's results were grounds for the introduction of legislative modifications in the field of epidemiological safety standards for cosmetic services in Poland.