Advancing patient safety - the role of hospital IT (and the chief nurse)TY - Oral presentation AU - Sheila Adam A2 - T1 - Advancing patient safety - the role of hospital IT (and the chief nurse) Y1 - 2016-02-25 PY - JF - M3 - doi: 10.1102/2051-7726.2016.A008 SP - 8 EP - 8 UR - VL - 3 AB - Patient safety is a complex construct with many multi-dependent factors which contribute to a greater or lesser degree in different situations. Although patients and their care have increased in complexity, safety has improved over time. Theoretical models of safety have focussed on culture, processes, recognition/anticipation and learning from failure as well as many other components.  Different approaches and tools are needed to address different elements. The reliability of processes and their resilience to other stressors (such as workload) can be a strong foundation on which to build. Use of information technology and electronic patient records can contribute to this element of safety by signposting (to standards and guidance), alerting (to risk), prompting (for comprehensive documentation), eliminating calculation errors, and sharing information across multiple points of access. Systems cannot in themselves make the patient safer: &n