The beginning of the journey to study patient safety and care quality in hospital settings using inpatient falls as an example

病人安全是WHO2006年启动的一项全球性工作。我国卫生部与国家中医药管理局在2005-2007年开展的医院管理年活动中,都将提高医疗质量和保证医疗安全作为重中之重。本刊特邀曾惠明（Huey-Ming Tzeng）博士,美国密歇根大学护理学院副主任、教授、美国中西部护理研究协会会员,撰写了《病人安全与护理照护的研究旅程：以住院病人跌倒为例》。

The purpose of this paper is to share with readers the beginning of my journey to study patient safety and care quality in hospital settings with a focus on inpatient falls.Studying patient safety and care quality can be overwhelming because of the breadth and depth of this subject and the many gaps that must be addressed to move nursing science forward.I used a graphic method,concept mapping,to capture my research journey.Data sources used in my program specific to inpatient falls for adults in hospital inpatient care include：（1） publicly available datasets;（2） published legal cases;（3） archived hospital data;（4） surveys;and（5） interviews,focus groups,observation,and field studies.I have summarized a series of my studies related to the relationship between nursing staff′s response time to call lights and the prevalence or occurrence of inpatient falls in acute hospital settings.These studies illustrate the development of a line of research on inpatient falls.Finally,I discuss the pivotal points in pursuing this research and scholarship.To sustain the persistence and resilience on this journey requires passion for the subjects of patient safety and care quality.