The Value of Learning From Near Misses to Improve Patient Safety: A Scoping Review

For years, health care has recognized that learning from near misses offers potential opportunities to reduce unintended harm to patients. However, these benefits have yet to be realized. It is assumed that effective actions are being implemented as a result of learning from healthcare near misses, leading to improvements in patient safety. A scoping review of the healthcare literature was undertaken to explore the value of learning from near misses in the improvement of patient safety.

The scoping review was conducted on Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL. Eligible articles published since 2000 were included.

A total of 4745 articles were identified through the searches, with 19 included in the final review. The articles included one randomized control trial. All the included articles had evidence of action after reporting or investigation of near misses, with the majority showing evaluation of impact. Actions were human, administrative, and engineering focused. Impact evaluation focused on the reduction of near misses, but without consideration of patient safety outcome measures, such as harm. The review also noted limited availability of experimental research and variability in near-miss definitions and that actions are not just the result of near misses.

Currently, health care assumes that reporting and learning from near misses improves patient safety. The literature provides limited evidence supporting these assumptions and shows that actions as a result of near misses are commonly aimed at the human. There is a need to prove the benefits of focusing on near misses in health care and for more system-level actions.