Research Guides: Patient Safety, Quality Improvement, & Complex Systems: Databases

Databases

PubMed @ UM
ACP Journal Club Archives
CINAHL
For information on Nursing and Allied Health.
Cochrane Library
Includes the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Central Register of Controlled Trials, Methodology Register, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, and more.
MEDLINE (Ovid)
Scopus
Web of Science
Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (SOPS) Database
A central repository for survey data from hospitals that have administered the AHRQ patient safety culture survey instrument. Use the Comparative Databases link to search for information.
SafetyLit
Provides information to allow users to identify & find material (of both good & poor quality) that has been published about injury prevention & safety promotion topics. includes summaries of doctoral theses, "scholarly" reports and journal articles about injury occurrence and risk factors. Items are included if they concern any pre-event or event elements of the Haddon Matrix; the epidemiology of injury; or the financial, personal, or societal costs or consequences of any injury or risk factor.

Databases Searching Terms

Search terms will vary, depending on the database you are using. Below is a list of useful terms, keywords (lowercase) & MeSH terms (capitalized) that can be used in PubMed & adapted for use in other databases. Use synonyms in your searches, as patient safety as a concept is relatively new to the literature.

Accident Prevention
Checklist [added 2010; for searching prior to 2010, use as keyword only]
Iatrogenic Disease
Medical Errors
"patient safety"
Patient Safety [added 2012; for research prior to 2012, search as "patient safety" & consider using Safety as a MeSH term]
surgical procedure (or other types of procedures)
surgical safety checklist

Disclosure
Truth Disclosure
Liability
Malpractice
Safety Management
Risk Management

Below are useful MeSH terms that can be used in PubMed & adapted for use in other databases.
Quality Assurance, Health Care
Quality Control
Quality Improvement
Quality Indicators, Health Care
Quality of Health Care
Total Quality Management
Delivery of Health Care
Diffusion of Innovation
Professional Competence
Social Responsibility
Health Policy
Policy Making
Leadership
Models, Organizational
Organizational Culture
Organizational Innovation
Organizational Objectives
Cooperative Behavior
Interdisciplinary Communication
Patient Care Team
Health Services (includes Emergency Medical Services, Pharmaceutical Services, different types of patient care, Medical Errors, & much more)

Below are some synonyms (lowercase) & MeSH terms (capitalized) that can be used in PubMed & adapted for use in other databases. The subheading: /organization & administration, combined with a particular type of practice or organization, can be very useful in searches.

"complex care"
"complex systems"
"complexity thinking"

Delivery of Health Care
Decision Making
Diffusion of Innovation
Health Services Needs and Demand
Health Services Research
Systems Analysis
Systems Analysis

Adaptation, Psychological
Nonlinear Dynamics
Uncertainty

Leadership
Models, Organizational
Organizational Innovation

Clinical Competence
Education, Medical
Problem-Based Learning
Professional Autonomy

Last Updated: Nov 19, 2024 4:05 PM

Subjects: Health Sciences