Building on the revolutionary US Institute of Medicine reports To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm, Keeping Patients Safe lays out guidelines for improving patient safety by changing nurses’ working conditions and demands. Nurses and are indispensable participants in the effort to protect patients from health care errors. The nature of the activities nurses typically perform (monitoring patients, educating home caretakers, performing treatments, and rescuing patients who are in crisis) provides an indispensable resource in detecting and remedying error-producing defects in any modern health care system. However, tragic cases of hospital errors continue to occur. The job description and work environment of nurses has changed dramatically, with more paperwork and great responsibilities. As patients are increasingly cared for as outpatients, nurses in hospitals and nursing homes deal with greater severity of illness. Problems in management practices, employee deployment, work and workspace design, and the basic safety culture of health care organisations place patients at further risk. This newest edition in the groundbreaking US Institute of Medicine series discusses these