Preventing Medical Errors in Occupational Therapy
Original price was: $29.00.$23.20Current price is: $23.20.
Learning Level : Intermediate
Online
Course Abstract
Preventing Medical Errors in Occupational Therapy is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that meets the medical error renewal requirement for Florida Occupational Therapists (OTs).
Medical errors and preventable harm remain common across health care, and occupational therapy practitioners face distinctive risks: falls during transfers and self-care, burns from physical agent modalities, pressure injuries from orthoses, wrong-patient and wrong-site care, choking and aspiration during feeding, medication side effects that surface during activity, and communication, documentation, home health, and telehealth failures.
This course, designed to meet the Florida prevention of medical errors requirement for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants, reviews the scope of medical errors and the Florida laws that govern error prevention, reporting, and patient notification. It explains how errors arise from human factors and system design, walks through root-cause analysis using the RCA² approach and action hierarchy, and addresses patient identification, handoffs, supervision, and documentation. It covers indications, contraindications, and precautions specific to occupational therapy management, medications and side effects that affect therapy, and practical error-reduction strategies for fall prevention, safety reporting, disclosure, home health, and telehealth. Case vignettes drawn from everyday occupational therapy practice illustrate each topic.
Outline
- Introduction
- Section 1: Medical Errors and Patient Safety: Scope, Terms, and Florida Requirements
- Section 2: Why Errors Happen: Human Factors and Root-Cause Analysis
- Section 3: Right Patient, Right Site, Right Information: Identification, Communication, and Documentation
- Section 4: Indications, Contraindications, and Precautions in Occupational Therapy Interventions
- Section 5: Medications, Side Effects, and Occupational Therapy
- Section 6: Building a Culture of Safety: Error Reduction Across Practice Settings
- Conclusion
Course #21-75 | 2026 | 15 posttest questions
Learning Objectives
- Describe the scope of medical errors in health care and the Florida statutes and rules that govern error prevention, reporting, and patient notification for occupational therapy practitioners.
- Apply the steps of root-cause analysis, including causal statements and the RCA² action hierarchy, to an occupational therapy adverse event.
- Identify three strategies to prevent wrong-patient, wrong-site, and wrong-procedure errors and errors arising from communication, handoff, supervision, and documentation failures.
- Differentiate indications, contraindications, and precautions for physical agent modalities, orthoses, transfers, feeding, and dry needling in occupational therapy.
- Recognize two medication side effects that affect the safety of occupational therapy interventions and the appropriate practitioner response.
- Select three error-reduction strategies for fall prevention, safety reporting, disclosure, home health, and telehealth that strengthen a culture of safety and support clients’ safe participation in daily occupations.
Course Directions
This course is text-based (reading), and the CE test is open-book (you can print the test to mark your answers on it while reading the course materials). Successful completion of this course involves passing an online test (80% required, three chances to take) and we ask that you also complete a brief course evaluation. Contact us with any questions – we are here to help!
About the Author(s)
CE Information
Occupational Therapy
Professional Development Resources is an AOTA Approved Provider of professional development. Course approval ID #17633. This distance learning-independent course is offered at 0.2 CEUs, Intermediate Level, OT Service Delivery/Professional Issues]. The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.
Professional Development Resources is also approved by the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Arizona Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners; the Arkansas State Medical Board for Occupational Therapy; the Florida Board of Occupational Therapy; the Georgia State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Kansas Board of Healing Arts for Occupational Therapy; the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners for Occupational Therapy; the Michigan Board of Occupational Therapy; the Mississippi State Department of Health's Professional Licensure of Occupational Therapists; the New Hampshire Occupational Therapy Governing Board; the North Dakota State Board of Occupational Practice; the Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision for Occupational Therapy; the South Carolina Board of Occupational Therapy; the Tennessee Board of Occupational Therapy; and is CE Broker compliant (#50-1635 - completions are reported within 24 hours).
Customer Testimonials
It's SO nice to finally have a medical errors course that is specific to occupational therapy!! Thank you!
