What describes a near-miss in a healthcare setting?

• A. An event with harm
• B. A near-miss
• C. An incident that could have caused harm but did not
• D. An event with no potential for harm

Answer: (C)

In patient safety, a near-miss is an event that could have caused harm but did not, usually because something intervened just in time or a safeguard stopped it. It’s about the potential for harm, not actual injury, and these events are valuable clues about weaknesses in systems and processes that can be improved.

That understanding matches the description: an incident that could have caused harm but did not. For example, a medication error is detected before the drug reaches the patient, or the correct patient and dose are verified just in time to prevent harm.

The other options describe different things: an event with harm is an adverse event, and an event with no potential for harm doesn’t involve any risk of harm at all, so it isn’t a near-miss.