Table 2.
Definition of potential preventability, potential severity and actual clinical impact
Categories | Definition | |
---|---|---|
Potential preventability [14] |
Definitely preventable |
NSa |
|
Probably preventable |
NSa |
|
Probably not preventable |
NSa |
|
Definitely not preventable |
NSa |
Potential severity [15] |
Minor |
No injury, nor increased length of stay nor increased level of care. |
|
Moderate |
Increased length of stay or increased level of care for 1 or 2 patients. |
|
Major |
Permanent lessening of bodily functioning, disfigurement, surgical intervention required, increased length of stay for 3 or more patients, increased level of care for 3 or more patients. |
|
Catastrophic |
Death or major permanent loss of function, suicide, rape, hemolytic transfusion reaction. Surgery/procedure on the wrong patient or wrong body part, infant abduction or infant discharge to the wrong family. |
Actual clinical impact [16,17] |
Preventable ADEb |
Injuries resulting from an error at any stage throughout the medication process. |
Near misses | Errors detected and intercepted before any harm is done. |
aNS: not specified; bADE: Adverse Drug Event.