🛟 CPPS — Patient Safety Exam Prep

An independent, free exam-preparation course built around the publicly described domains of the Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) credential, administered by the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety (CBPPS) at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). It walks through the five exam domains — Patient Safety Culture, Leadership & Outreach; Patient Safety Risks & Solutions; Measuring & Improving Performance; Systems Thinking, Human Factors Engineering & Design; and improvement & monitoring — using visual lessons, worked examples, original self-check questions and a 45-question final exam. You will build exam-ready understanding of just culture, high-reliability organisations, hazard identification, event reporting, RCA2, FMEA, measurement of harm, improvement methods, SBAR, disclosure and TeamSTEPPS. It is awareness/prep only — not the official IHI review course or the CBPPS examination — and claims no IHI or CBPPS affiliation or endorsement. The course is organized into 22 modules, ending with a final exam (pass mark 80%). It is independent, free exam-preparation training — not an official or accredited review course.

What you'll learn

• The CPPS Credential & the Five Exam Domains
• Foundations: To Err Is Human & the Science of Safety
• Safety Culture & How to Measure It
• Just Culture & Accountability
• Leadership & Governance for Safety
• High-Reliability Organisations (HROs)
• Systems Thinking & the Swiss-Cheese Model
• Human Factors Engineering & Usable Design
• Hazard Identification & Proactive Risk Reduction
• Event Reporting Systems & a Reporting Culture
• Root Cause Analysis & RCA2
• FMEA — Proactive Failure Mode Analysis
• Measuring Harm — Incidence, Prevalence & Trigger Tools
• Measurement for Improvement & Statistical Process Control
• The Model for Improvement & PDSA Cycles
• Lean, Six Sigma & Reducing Variation
• Communication: SBAR, Handoffs & Critical Language
• Teamwork & TeamSTEPPS
• Disclosure, Apology & the Second Victim
• High-Risk Areas: Medication, Diagnosis & HAIs
• Patient & Family Engagement, Equity & WHO Goals
• Exam Strategy: Choosing the BEST Answer

Learning objectives

• Understand that this is independent CPPS exam-prep over the public CBPPS/IHI domains, not the official IHI review course or the certification exam
• Describe the CPPS credential, the role of the patient-safety professional and the five exam domains with their approximate weightings
• Define safety culture and just culture, and distinguish human error, at-risk behaviour and reckless behaviour
• Explain leadership, governance and board accountability for safety, and the principles of a high-reliability organisation (HRO)
• Apply systems thinking and human-factors engineering — Swiss-cheese, latent vs active failures, forcing functions and usable design
• Identify hazards, build a strong reporting culture, and run a structured RCA2 and a proactive FMEA
• Measure harm and performance — incidence vs prevalence, trigger tools, run and control charts, and the measurement-for-improvement mindset
• Use improvement methods — the Model for Improvement, PDSA cycles and Lean/Six Sigma reduction of variation and waste
• Communicate safely — SBAR handoffs, critical-language, error disclosure and second-victim support; and lead teams with TeamSTEPPS
• Apply exam strategy — reading the stem, eliminating distractors, and choosing the BEST systems-level answer under time
• Pass a 45-question exam (80% to earn your certificate)