What does the National Patient Safety Goals aim to achieve?

• A. To identify patients correctly, use medicines safely, prevent infection, and prevent mistakes in surgery
• B. To maximize profits
• C. To update patient satisfaction surveys
• D. To simplify charting

Answer: (A)

National Patient Safety Goals aim to reduce harm to patients by focusing on essential safety practices. The main targets are identifying patients correctly, using medicines safely, preventing infections, and stopping wrong-site, wrong-procedure, or wrong-patient surgery. Correct patient identification means confirming who the patient is before treatments or tests. Safe medication use includes accurate labeling, dosing, and reconciliation to avoid errors. Infection prevention involves hand hygiene, sterile techniques, and preventing healthcare-associated infections. Preventing wrong-site or wrong-patient surgery requires verification steps and a formal time-out before procedures. These areas address common sources of harm and guide everyday safety practices in healthcare settings. The other options don’t target patient safety in the same way: maximizing profits, updating satisfaction surveys, or simplifying charting relate to financial or administrative goals, not safety.