Nursing2006 Report Finds Positive Shift in Healthcare Culture Toward Reducing Medical Errors and Improving Patient Safety; Nurses Say They are Uniquely Positioned to Lead Patient-Safety Initiatives at the Bedside.

PHILADELPHIA -- The May issue of Nursing2006 will feature a comprehensive Patient-Safety Survey Report that analyzes responses from nearly 5,000 nurses about changes in the culture and support systems currently in place to support patient safety. Nursing2006, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, part of Wolters Kluwer Health, the nation's largest direct paid-circulation professional nursing journal, conducted the survey.

"Survey results indicate that although the change is far from complete, the healthcare culture is shifting from a punitive or blaming approach in error reporting, to a more objective, constructive and educational approach," says Cheryl Mee, RN, BC, CMSRN, MSN, editor-in-chief of the journal. "I encourage nurses and nurse leaders to review this report and use this information to make positive changes that enhance patient safety."

Responses show an increased focus on patient safety following the landmark 1999 Institute of Medicine report, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System that suggested as many as 98,000 people may die annually because of medical errors. The Institute of Medicine's 2004 report, Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses, identified nurses as key to correcting system-wide flaws concerning safety and recommended support for nurses to help catch errors before they reach patients.

"These findings provide the healthcare community with valuable insight about the critical role of nurses in improving patient safety," said Rachel R. Vitoux, RN, MSN, CCRN Director, Clinical & Technical Support and Administrative Services B. Braun Medical Inc. "The Study not only highlights that a supportive culture leads to increased patient safety, it reinforces that nurses, who have the most intimate understanding of the patient, are catalysts to reducing medication errors and improving patient outcomes."

Although human, system and communication failures all contribute to errors, respondents identified poor communication as the most significant factor. Because poor communication jeopardizes patient safety, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has made improving communication across healthcare organizations one of its National Patient Safety Goals.

Staffing issues were a recurring theme in survey responses. Nurses voiced frustration over chronic understaffing as a major impediment to safe patient care.

Conducted in the September 2005 issue of the journal, the survey was supported by an educational grant from B. Braun Medical Inc., a global leader in innovative healthcare products and services, and developed by nurses involved in patient safety initiatives at University of Pennsylvania Health System, Presbyterian in Philadelphia. The report is available at www.Nursing2006.com.

About Nursing2006

Nursing2006 is an award-winning how-to journal providing clinical and professional content for nursing professionals.

About Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) is a leading international publisher for physicians, nurses, specialized clinicians, and students. LWW provides information for healthcare professionals in print and electronic formats, including textbooks, journals, CD-ROM, via Intranets, and the Internet. LWW is part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information for professionals and students in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, science, and related areas. Wolters Kluwer Health is a division of Wolters Kluwer a leading multinational publisher and information services company with annual revenues (2005) of EUR 3.4 billion, approximately 18,400 employees worldwide and operations across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its depositary receipts of shares are quoted on the Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices.

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