Joint Commission releases sentinel event statistics

Unintended retention of foreign objects, patient falls, and suicide were the top three sentinel events reported to The Joint Commission in 2014. The accreditor last week released the report, which examines sentinel events from 2004 through 2014.

Of the 764 events reported in 2014, foreign objects (91), falls (91), suicide (82), delay in treatment (73), and “other unanticipated event” (73) were far and away the most common. Overall since 2004, there have been 8,645 incidents reported; that list is topped by wrong patient/wrong site/wrong procedure with 1,102 (the category was sixth on the 2014 list with 67).

Read The Joint Commission’s sentinel events summary.