Patient Safety

'It goes without saying that providing safe care to patients in our complex healthcare system depends on reliable data and clearly communicated information. However, knowledge management is a complicated field in its own right. Patient Safety: Perspectives on Evidence, Information and Knowledge Transfer is an ambitious, important book that examines the complex intersection between patient safety and evidence, information and knowledge transfer (EI&K). Editor Lorri Zipperer has expertise in both patient safety and EI&K and it shows in this impressive work. Not only has she recognized the need for a thoughtful, clear-eyed exploration of EI&K's promise for moving health care closer to a culture of safety, but also has taken on the challenge of making sense of the intersection between two distinct, complicated fields. She has assembled an impressive list of contributors who provide needed background before examining potential EI&K failures and the improvement processes to address them. The authors also describe synergies between these two complex fields, and suggest future research directions.' Joanne Turnbull, PhD, Executive Director Emerita, National Patient Safety Foundation 'The published literature on patient safety principles is largely anecdotal and the evidence based knowledge in the field remains scarce. Lorri Zipperer, the editor of this new and groundbreaking book, has to be commended for her effort in providing a fresh perspective on the impact of "EI&K" (Evidence, Information, Knowledge) principles for patient safety. The new book appears to successfully complete the daunting task of extrapolating the "dry" theoretical aspects of interest to librarians and patient safety professionals, to relevant clinical processes and applications of interest to practicing physicians (including surgeons). ...Beyond a doubt, this meritorious work was desperately needed, and will hopefully allow to foster the "buy-in" and support by healthcare providers in sustaining and growing the current global momentum of the patient safety initiative.' Philip Stahel, Patient Safety in Surgery 'The authors confront the yawning gap between our highly structured (and lavishly funded) system for adding research evidence to the body of medical knowledge, and the crucial but much neglected process of getting that evidence into the hands of providers and patients, when and where it's needed, in the messy world of clinical care. It's time we listened to them.' Frank Davidoff, Editor Emeritus, Annals of Internal Medicine 'From deep history to future prospects, the authors lay out the shortcomings of current evidence-seeking and pull together disparate concepts to show how to improve systems and practice through effective deployment of evidence, information and knowledge. This thoughtful, multidimensional book will be an important contribution to the literature of patient safety.' Helen Haskell, President, Mothers Against Medical Error 'The authors provide the historical context of the patient safety movement but move beyond that by exploring the necessary strategies that learning organizations need to apply to their safety efforts. Offering practical tools as well as compelling stories, the authors also establish the essential role of librarians and other information specialists in improving patient safety throughout the continuum of care.' Margaret Bandy, Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital, USA '...a carefully orchestrated series of chapters written by experts in different aspects of patient safety. In examining how approaches to EI&K can enhance or undermine patient safety, Zipperer and her co-authors - 34 contributors in all - explore systems thinking, complexity, high reliability, health information technology, the role of patients and families, and other core concepts. The dangers of superficiality, insularity, and exclusion are recurring themes. ...By demonstrating that an effective approach to accessing and sharing evidence, information, and knowledge plays a crucial role in patient safety, Zipperer brings an underappreciated vulnerability to our attention and helps us begin to fill the gap.' PSQH Blog '...an important book that examines the relationship between patient safety and evidence, information, and knowledge transfer, also referred to as EI&K. Well-known as a "cybrarian," editor Lorri Zipperer assembles a team of well-versed contributors - from nurses and pharmacists to librarians and medical doctors - to share perspectives on the importance of high-quality EI&K in the patient safety realm. ...Patient safety is a realm in which a constellation of perspectives can converge to provide an environment that minimizes error and affords a safer environment for the patient. It is only appropriate that an indispensable manual benefit from a broad scope of perspectives. Patient Safety: Perspectives on Evidence, Information, and Knowledge Transfer is ideal for any professional invested in curtailing patient safety errors in an institution and contributing to a change that accepts an evidence-based culture of excellence instead.' Journal of Hospital Librarianship, vol. 15, no. 2, 2015