title: From safety contract to safety agreement.
abstract: 1. Confusion and controversy continue to surround the definition and use of safety contracts. 2. A safety agreement based on Orlando's Nursing Theory may be a more practical, concise, and nurse-patient friendly means to promote patient safety. 3. The key ingredients in a safety agreement are identifying patients' immediate safety needs and decreasing patients' immediate distress related to safety through the nurse-patient relationship. 4. The value of a safety agreement lies not in the tool itself but in its promotion of a nurse-patient relationship that involves communication and collaboration.
authors.affiliation: New Hampshire Hospital, Concord, New Hampshire, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Potter
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dawson
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D012449:Safety; D000092864:Suicide Prevention