What are sentinel events in patient safety?

• A. Routine near-miss events
• B. Unexpected death or serious physical/psychological injury
• C. Scheduled safety drills
• D. Minor adverse events

Answer: (B)

Sentinel events are unexpected safety failures in healthcare that involve death or serious physical or psychological injury, or the risk of such harm, and require urgent investigation and system-wide corrective action. The emphasis is on how severe and unanticipated the event is, signaling a need to uncover root causes and prevent recurrence rather than assigning blame to individuals. This is what sets them apart from routine near-misses (which don’t result in harm), scheduled safety drills (planned activities), or minor adverse events (which are not severe). Examples include wrong-site surgery, patient suicide in care, or infant abduction, all of which demand immediate analysis and system improvements to protect patients in the future.