Risk Management: The Role of Nurses

Course overview

A landmark report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) discovered that medical errors often result from systems failure (IOM [U.S.] Committee on Quality of Health Care in America et al., 2000). This report also revealed that 98,000 deaths in any given year were attributed to medical errors and that as many as 220,000 deaths annually could be prevented (Haupt, 2019). Healthcare risk management is used by organizations to identify, evaluate, and manage risk and potential liability exposure. Since nurses are involved in risk management every day, they should be aware of common risks to patient safety, the reasons why medical errors occur, and how to mitigate risk.