Case Studies in Patient Safety

This unique compendium of case studies on patient safety – told from the perspective of the patient and family – illustrates 24 stories of preventable health care errors that led to irreparable patient harm. The reader is guided through a structured analysis of the events, eliciting lessons learned and strategies for preventing similar events in the future. Learning objectives for each case facilitate the reader’s development of a set of core competencies related to improving safety and quality of health care. Students of the health professions including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, health administration, public health, as well as practicing professionals such as patient safety officers, chief quality officers, risk managers, and health service researchers will gain valuable insight into the real-world of medical errors and a better understanding of how they can be prevented through practical, actionable methods.

Julie K. Johnson, PhD, MSPH is currently a Professor of Surgery at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and serves as the Associate Chair of Quality for the Department of Surgery, the Associate Director of the UNC Surgical Health Services (USHER) center, and the'Director'of'Quality'and Implementation, NC Surgical'Quality'Collaborative (NC SURG). In these roles, Dr. Johnson leads and participates in studies to improve quality and safety of patient care within clinical microsystems.'Dr. Johnson’s career interests have involved building a series of collaborative relationships to improve the quality and safety of health care through teaching, research, and clinical improvement. She has a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina and a PhD in evaluative clinical sciences from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.'Since completing her PhD in 2000, Dr. Johnson has focused her research on activities related to quality and safety of patient care and qualitative evaluation of clinical microsystems. She has extensive experience using qualitative research methods as part of implementation research studies.