The materials offered in this patient safety manual draw on information from a robust database consisting of qualitative and quantitative data gathered over the course of nine years. These data come from a 4-year patient safety study conducted in rural hospitals in a 9-state area as well as a series of additional healthcare studies that focused on ethics and decision-making in rural settings.
The manual is a resource developed to fit a rural context. The first chapter discusses the national patient safety movement. The succeeding chapters discuss definitions of errors and lessons learned from the multi-method patient safety study. The final chapters discuss approaches that might help achieve the delivery of safer care and also provides resources that can be used by rural healthcare providers in order to support system-wide patient safety efforts
