The Evolution of Neonatal Patient Safety

Nicole K Yamada; Louis P Halamek

doi:10.1016/j.clp.2023.01.005

The Evolution of Neonatal Patient Safety

Clin Perinatol. 2023 Jun;50(2):421-434. doi: 10.1016/j.clp.2023.01.005. Epub 2023 Mar 27.

Authors

Nicole K Yamada¹, Louis P Halamek²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, 453 Quarry Road, MC 5660, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. Electronic address: nkyamada@stanford.edu.
² Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, 453 Quarry Road, MC 5660, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.

PMID: 37201989
DOI: 10.1016/j.clp.2023.01.005

Abstract

Human factors science teaches us that patient safety is achieved not by disciplining individual health care professionals for mistakes, but rather by designing systems that acknowledge human limitations and optimize the work environment for them. Incorporating human factors principles into simulation, debriefing, and quality improvement initiatives will strengthen the quality and resilience of the process improvements and systems changes that are developed. The future of patient safety in neonatology will require continued efforts to engineer and re-engineer systems that support the humans who are at the interface of delivering safe patient care.

Keywords: Debriefing; Human factors; Neonate; Patient safety; Simulation; Systems engineering.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Infant, Newborn
Neonatology*
Patient Safety*
Quality Improvement