The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released a report, Making Health Care Safer II: An Updated Critical Analysis of the Evidence for Patient Safety Practices, that identifies 22 practices with enough evidentiary support to be implemented immediately. The use of 10 of those practices is "strongly encouraged." These include postoperative and anesthesia checklists, bundles of practices to prevent central line-associated bloodstream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia, and interventions to reduce urinary catheter use, among others. Among the remaining strategies, which are "encouraged," are team training, rapid response systems, medication reconciliation, and the use of simulation exercises.

Figure. Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, displays a safety checklist in the operating room. Photo by Genevieve Ross / Associated Press.

The full report can be found at: http://1.usa.gov/YKJXBV. - Gail M. Pfeifer, MA, RN, news director