Although falls in health care settings may never be completely eliminated, there is a clear obligation on the part of health care providers to implement strategies to reduce each patient’s risk of being injured in a fall while in the hospital. This article will explore the impact of patient falls and discuss the components of a comprehensive fall prevention program.

This article suggests steps for changing the ‘culture of intimidation’ in health care; defines the components of formal and informal mechanisms for addressing disruptive practitioner behavior; and identifies threshold elements of the fair hearing process.

Why is medication reconciliation important enough for The Joint Commission (TJC) to issue an expanded safety goal for 2007? Why does medication reconciliation remain prominent in national patient safety initiatives. Does medication reconciliation really prevent serious medication errors? And what about small hospitals that are not JCAHO accredited – should they reconcile medications? This article, provides answers to these questions and more.

This article provides an historical overview of MRSA, and discusses CA-MRSA, MSSA, HA-MRSA, with the newest threat of the potent MRSA superbug, PVL-producing MRSA. MRSA prevention and control strategies are outlined and future directions in MRSA management and elimination are discussed

This article will look at a number of issues related to credentialing. It will discuss potential liabilities to patients from credentialing decisions that were alleged to have been negligent.  In many of these areas, the potential liabilities can be severe enough that all health care entities should take them seriously.

This article addresses the following aspects of a successful bariatric program: essential components; planning and implementation; outcome measurement; and risk management recommendations.

This article addresses the ethical and risk management considerations surrounding pain management, adequate pain assessment, and physician and nursing perspectives of pain. It addressed the question of addiction versus dependence versus tolerance. “As needed” medication orders are discussed and educational requirements for pain are set forth.

This article outlines the essential steps and elements for conducting an effective Root Cause Analysis (RCA) . It identifies The Joint Commission requirements for conducting RCA.

This article explores the background of safe patient handling and the impact of nursing injuries on the health care system over time. The article introduces evidence-based practices for and provides details on state and national initiatives to perpetuate new safe patient handling practices and provides risk management recommendations for successful implementation of a safe patient handling program.

This article has addressed the potential liabilities of patient termination, definition of the patient–physician relationship, risk management aspects, root causes, preventive actions, case examples, and an overview of the termination procedure. The article includes a sample termination policy, and sample termination letters.