A rose by any other name would smell as sweet: defining patient safety-related terminology

Abstract

The definitions of terms related to iatrogenic harm and the potential for iatrogenic harm (e.g. error, medication error, near miss) in the anaesthesia literature are imprecise and variable, resulting in wide discrepancy in conclusions about their rates and potential solutions. Clarification of these terms is both critical and difficult: a concerted effort to achieve expert consensus is warranted.

Keywords: error; iatrogenic harm; incident reporting; medication error; patient safety; preventability; terminology.