Patient safety and medicines
Identifying, assessing and controlling clinical risk under CMS QAPI, accreditation, state law, OSHA and FDA requirements
U.S. licensed health professionals: physicians, PAs, RNs, LPN/LVNs and APRNs, pharmacists, dentists and dental hygienists, and allied professionals in hospital, long-term care, ambulatory, dental and pharmacy settings.
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a board inquiry.
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
This course teaches the practical discipline of clinical risk management for U.S. licensees: how to identify hazards before they cause harm, assess risk by likelihood and severity, choose controls that work under real-world pressure, escalate risks you cannot fix yourself, and respond and learn when something goes wrong. It covers proactive tools such as failure mode and effects analysis and dynamic point-of-care risk assessment, high-risk domains including diagnosis and test-result follow-up, falls, deterioration, telehealth, sedation and pharmacy dispensing, and staff and environmental risks such as sharps injuries, workplace violence and medical devices.
It is written for physicians, PAs, nurses and APRNs, pharmacists, dentists and hygienists, and allied professionals in hospitals, long-term care, ambulatory clinics, dental practices and community pharmacies. It suits licensees who want to strengthen safety in their own practice, take on a quality or safety role, prepare for a new service, or respond constructively after a near miss, adverse event, claim or board concern.
In the United States, risk management expectations come from several sources at once: the CMS Conditions of Participation on quality assessment and performance improvement (42 CFR 482.21 and 483.75), accreditation standards, state facility laws such as Florida's internal risk management statute, OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard and FDA device reporting rules. Unmanaged clinical risk is also behind many board complaints and malpractice claims, and malpractice payments are reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank with no minimum amount. Managing risk well protects patients, colleagues and your license.
11 sections · 26 lessons · 3 hours · 20-question final assessment
Final assessment
20scenario-based questions
Certificate of completion
Certificate of completion. Not CE or CME credit unless accepted by your board.
The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your learning portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
Clinical risk management aims to prevent harm by identifying and controlling hazards before they reach patients. Claims management deals with the consequences once a claim or complaint exists. The course also explains how both relate to the QAPI rules for hospitals and nursing homes (42 CFR 482.21 and 483.75).
Map the process, identify how each step could fail, score each failure mode for severity, likelihood and detectability, and act on the highest priorities. The course walks through an FMEA as a team member would experience it, alongside dynamic point-of-care risk assessment for decisions made at the bedside.
Escalate it through the right channel with a clear description of the hazard, the likely harm and what you have already done. The course gives a structured escalation approach and shows how to document it, so the risk is owned by someone with authority to control it and your concern is on record.
Diagnostic and test-result follow-up, falls, pressure injuries, clinical deterioration, suicide risk, sedation, telehealth, office and dental practice and pharmacy dispensing. It also covers risks to staff and the environment, including needlestick injuries, workplace violence and reporting device problems to the FDA.
For $89 you study for about three hours online at your own speed, with instant access. A final 20 questions (16 correct to pass) leads to a certificate and a written personal risk plan. No CE, CME or risk management certification credit is attached.
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: state practice acts and board rules, federal law and national professional codes of ethics. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
The RCA² method step by step: prioritization, chartering, interviews, flow diagrams, causal statements, the action hierarchy and measured follow-up.
Reporting incidents, near misses and unsafe conditions: writing a useful report, PSO protection, state and CMS duties, FDA and ISMP routes.
Disclosing adverse events and errors: AMA Opinion 8.6, state disclosure and apology laws, communication-and-resolution programs and second-victim support.
