Situational awareness in a patients room can undoubtedly improve the quality and safety of care delivered the hazards of hospitalization 10 including reactions to therapeutic drugs and hospital acquired infections affect nearly 20 of hospitalized adults. Situational awareness and patient safety authors avi parush phd1 catherine campbell ba sc peng mdes1 aren hunter phd candidate1 chunyun ma ma candidate1 lisa calder md msc2 james worthington md2 cynthia abbott ma3 jason r frank md maed23 project administration marvel sampson3 hayley masterson3 design and layout jonathan cormier3 wendy jemmett3 acknowledgements this project . A needs assessment conducted with physicians from various medical disciplines nurses medical educators patient safety personnel and human factors professionals identified situational awareness a foundational human factor as the most important and the least understood human factor. According to the us department of homeland security situational awareness is knowing and understanding whats happening around you 1 for instance we use situational awareness daily when we see an unattended suitcase at an airport walk to our car at night while being alert to dangers or enter a patient room and notice disconnected oxygen tubing