In healthcare risk management, what is an event or situation that did not produce patient harm, but only because of chance, prevention, or timely intervention (e.g., a wrong medication drawn but intercepted by a nurse before reaching the patient) officially designated as?

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: D. A near-miss incident

  1. Step 1: A 'near-miss' (or close call / good catch) is an unplanned event that had the potential to cause injury or illness to a patient, but was intercepted or avoided through timely detection or fortunate circumstance.
  2. Step 2: Tracking and reporting near-misses is essential to identify latent systemic vulnerabilities before patient harm occurs.
Answer
A near-miss (good catch).
Why not the others: 'Sentinel event' involves actual death or serious permanent physical/psychological injury; 'Adverse drug event' involves actual injury resulting from medical drug exposure; 'Medical malpractice liability' implies proven clinical negligence with established damages.

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