What is near-miss reporting in patient safety?

• A. Documenting completed procedures
• B. Reporting events that could have caused harm but didn't
• C. Only insurance reporting
• D. Ignoring minor incidents

Answer: (B)

Near-miss reporting focuses on events that could have caused harm to a patient but didn’t, either because of a protective barrier or because the error was caught in time. The goal is to learn from these near-misses to strengthen systems and prevent actual harm in the future. It supports a nonpunitive, learning-focused safety culture where staff feel encouraged to report and analyze what went wrong before any patient was affected.

Documenting completed procedures is about recording what was done, not about safety events that almost happened. Insurance reporting is administrative and not part of improving patient safety. Ignoring minor incidents misses chances to strengthen safety systems and prevent bigger problems.