Abstract
We evaluated methods of detecting adverse events, through continuous management of nursing service quality, via correctness and cost. This research was conducted from July to November 2000 at a general hospital with 281 beds in Tokyo. We collected adverse events, including unplanned removal of invasive lines, medication errors, falls, pressure sores, skin deficiencies, physical restraints, and nosocomial infections, through incident reports, logs, checklists, nurse interviews, medication error questionnaires, temperature tables, urine leukocyte tests, patient interviews and medical records. Comparing the consumed investigating time against the number of detected adverse events for each method, it became clear that we could detect adverse events almost consistently and more costeffectively via incident reports, check lists, nurse interviews, temperature tables, urine leukocyte tests, and medication error questionnaires. However, it is necessary to collect longer-term data from many institutions enabling us to decide term and formula for adverse event occurrence rate calculation.
