Human errors and their prevention in healthcare

Human errors form a significant portion of preventable mishaps in healthcare. Even the most competent clinicians are not immune to it. Errors in the perioperative period can often have grave consequences, and hence, perioperative clinicians need to be aware of the impact of human errors and how to minimize them. Errors are broadly classified into two kinds: latent and active errors. While active errors need to be addressed at the individual level, latent errors indicate organizational inadequacies. This review describes common errors in perioperative settings, the impact of such errors on healthcare, and preventive strategies to minimize such errors in daily patient care.

Latent risk assessment tool for health care leaders

Efforts to improve quality of care and patient safety have concentrated on provider practice and frontline care processes. Little attention has focused on understanding the role that leadership decisions play in creating risk within a health care system. The framework and tool described in this article builds on Reason's construct of latent organizational failure, by assessing the latent risks of leadership decisions, and identifying appropriate mitigation strategies before the implementation of a change. Stakeholders who will be involved in or impacted by the change are engaged in the assessment to more thoroughly explore both technical and cultural risks.