There are 2 new Web sites that provide valuable information and resources on patient safety. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Patient Safety Network is available at http://psnet.ahrq.gov.1 The site has a wealth of resources, including literature, research, tools, and links to other Web sites. One useful feature is the "What's New This Week" section. This section has information on new legislation and regulations, journal articles on patient safety, press releases, and other news. Considering how difficult it is to keep up with the literature, readers will find the list of new journal articles in the "What's New This Week" section particularly valuable. The links to the journal articles go to a new screen with a summary of the article, the full citation, and additional links to the abstract in the journal, PubMed citation, and, for some articles, free full text.
The Web site includes significant research, summaries of books and reports, tools and toolkits, Web resources, and other information on patient safety. These are organized in a section called "Browse the Collection," which is easy to use. For example, you can browse the collection by resource types (eg, journal articles, tools, or Web sites) or by topic (eg, error types or setting of care). The site also has links to resources that provide a background on patient safety. For example, the section called "Classics" has key articles and empirical studies that have advanced the field of patient safety.
Another site (http://www.jcipatientsafety.org) is from the Joint Commission International Center for Patient Safety. The International Center for Patient Safety, established in March 2005, is a virtual entity with the goal of improving patient safety and quality of care across settings.2 The Web site includes information for patients and families, healthcare providers, and others interested in patient safety. At the site, patients and families can access Quality Check, a search engine used to locate Joint Commission-accredited healthcare organizations; can find information on Speak Up Initiatives(TM); and can access resources on how to select a healthcare setting, report a concern or complaint about quality care, and prevent medical errors. There are links to excellent brochures (in pdf format) on what patients and families can do to prevent medical mistakes with equipment, before a surgical procedure, and in different settings where the patient might receive care. These brochures are valuable resources for patients in any setting and for consumer use. They contain critical information, with key concepts bulleted; are visually attractive; and are easy to read.
I randomly selected 3 of the brochures to check them for readability. Considering that the average reading level of the adult general population in the United States ranges between the fifth and eighth grade, patient education materials whether print or Web-based3 should be at or below this level. The Flesch-Kincaid grade level of the brochures ranged from 2.5 to 7.8, a level most patients and families could understand.
Under "Health Care Professionals & Providers," there are links to many resources on patient safety, such as articles, case studies, good practice examples, tools, and Patient Safety Link, a newsletter for healthcare professionals. The site also contains the Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals and a section "Sentinel Event Alerts & Solutions." There is a "Tip of the Week" section, which was on patient-controlled analgesia by proxy errors with safe practice recommendations when I reviewed the site. These "Tips" would be good for small group discussions at the unit level or as e-mail alerts to staff.
Marilyn H. Oermann, PhD, RN, FAAN, Editor
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