Additional Statement on Medical Errors

National Summit on Medical Errors and Patient Safety Research

Additional Statement, Submitted by Rosalind Chait Barnett, Ph.D. Principal Investigator, Women Health-Care Professionals Study Senior Fellow in Residence, Murray Research Center, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Senior Scientist, Women's Studies Program, Brandeis University

The first National Summit on Medical Errors and Patient Safety Research was held on September 11, 2000, in Washington, DC. Sponsored by the Quality Interagency Coordination Task Force (QuIC), the Summit’s goal was to review the information needs of individuals involved in reducing medical errors and improving patient safety. More importantly, the summit set a coordinated and usable research agenda for the future to answer these identified needs.

Selected applicants testified at the summit as members of the witness panels. The remainder of the applicants were invited to submit written comments for consideration by the steering committee. One of these statements follows.

Disclaimer and Copyright Statements

I feel that it is important to include in future studies of medical errors several variables not addressed at the National Summit on Medical Errors and Patient Safety Research on September 11th. These variables reflect aspects of the work and non-work lives of the RNs who have the major responsibility for direct patient care, at least in inpatient settings. Major among these are:

Demographic variables that might reasonably be hypothesized to affect job performance, including the likelihood of medical errors (e.g., number and ages of dependent children, elder-care burden, marital status). For example, women with heavy child- and elder-care burdens may cope less well than other RNs with mandatory overtime, placing them at higher risk of making errors on the job.
Social-role quality (i.e., job-role quality and, if applicable, marital- and parent-role quality). Numerous studies have demonstrated a significant main-effects relationship between the quality of marital, parental, and work roles and such outcomes as tensions at work and stress-related mental- and physical-health problems. These outcomes can, in turn, influence job performance. It follows that they might also be related to risk of medical errors at work.
Work shift (i.e., day, evening, night, or rotating). Shift work, and especially night and rotating shifts, has been related to sleep schedules and quality. Shift work has also been related to lower job commitment and satisfaction, higher depression and anxiety, and greater work-family conflict. Sleep disturbances and various forms of individual distress may lead to poor performance on the job, increasing the risk of medical errors.

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Current as of September 2000

Internet Citation:

Additional Statement by Rosalind Chait Barnett. National Summit on Medical Errors and Patient Safety Research. September 2000. http://www.quic.gov/summit/abarnett.htm

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