Adverse event

How it is used

A formal term used in incident reports, research and safety meetings. Adverse events are graded by severity, from mild harm to severe harm or death, and reviews ask whether they were preventable. Those caused by medicines are called adverse drug events.

Example sentences

1. Any adverse event must be reported through the incident system within 24 hours.

2. The review found that most adverse events on the ward were linked to falls.

Common collocations

• report an adverse event
• serious adverse event
• preventable adverse event
• adverse drug event

Related terms

• near missAn error or unsafe situation that was noticed and stopped before it could reach or harm a patient.
• incident reportA written record of an event that harmed, or could have harmed, a patient, visitor or member of staff, sent so that it can be investigated and learned from.
• never eventA very serious and largely preventable patient safety incident, such as surgery on the wrong body part, that should not happen if proper safety measures are followed.
• medication errorA preventable mistake in prescribing, dispensing, preparing or giving a medicine, whether or not it actually harms the patient.
• root cause analysisA structured investigation after a serious incident that looks for the underlying system problems that allowed it to happen, not just at the person who made the mistake.

More terms: Patient Safety and Risk

• patient safety
• hospital-acquired infection
• informed consent
• risk assessment
• safety culture