Using ISMP Canada's framework for failure mode and effects analysis: a tale of two FMEAs.

Patient safety concerns in healthcare are not new or unexpected, and one goal of all healthcare organizations is to provide the safest possible care for patients and their families. With that goal in mind, Annapolis Valley Health, a rural district health authority in Nova Scotia, identified the need to develop expertise in the use of failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) as a tool to promote quality processes within the organization. Staff members were aware of the value of this type of analysis but also recognized that real learning would best be achieved through completing an FMEA of an existing process or situation, rather than through a simulation or staff training.