ABSTRACT
In the past several years, there has been an increasing focus in our Canadian health care system related to patient safety. The Canadian Disclosure Guidelines, which were released in May 2008, discuss various patient safety initiatives underway across Canada. They emphasize the importance of a clear and consistent approach to disclosure, regardless of the variability in the definitions and interpretations across health care institutions. In addition, they highlight that all patients have the right to be informed about all aspects of their care, and all harm must be communicated to patients regardless of the reason (Disclosure Working Group, 2008). In this article, the authors describe and share our learning experiences, as nurses and students, while working in critical care settings when these guidelines were needed to communicate a harmful incident. Often, health care practitioners only become aware of specific guidelines regarding the disclosure of an adverse event once the incident has occurred. A case study will be discussed to illustrate the benefits of having a policy and a systematic framework in place to support a critical care environment in disclosing errors and adverse events to affected patients and their families.
