THE JOINT COMMISSIONPatient safety is one of the driving forces in health care. Patient safety is defined as "the absence of avoidable harm to a patient during the health care process or as the prevention of errors and adverse events caused by the delivery of health care rather than by the disease process under -patient's underlying. » (Kangasniemi, Vaismoradi, Jasper and Turunen, 2013). It was just as important in the past as it was today. Our healthcare field continues to strive to improve the safety of care for patients across the country. The Joint Commission was founded in 1951 with the goal of providing safer, better care for all. Since that day, it has been recognized as the leader in developing the highest standards of quality and safety in health care delivery and in evaluating the performance of organizations (The Joint Commission(a) [ TJC], 2014). The Joint Commission continues to look for ways to improve patient care. In 2003, the first set of National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) came into effect. This list of goals was designed by a group of nurses, doctors, pharmacists, risk managers, clinical engineers and other professionals with practical experience in solving patient safety issues in a wide variety of healthcare settings (TJC(b), 2014). . NPSGs were created to address specific patient safety concerns across all healthcare settings. Each year, this group of experts examines patient safety at all levels. They decide where the most attention should be paid. Sometimes items leave the list because progress has been made to improve in that area and sometimes they continue to stay on the list because they believe their relevance and importance is increasing. Health care is changing amidst the article......l of Oncology Nursing, 12(3), 495-498. doi:10.1188/08.CJON.495-498The Joint Commission (a). (2014). About the Joint Commission. Accessed March 31, 2014 http://www.jointcommission.org/about_us/about_the_joint_commission_main.aspxThe Joint Commission (b). (2014). Facts about national patient safety goals. Accessed March 28, 2014 http://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/18/National_Patient_Safety_Goals_12_09.pdf The Joint Commission (c). (2014). National Patient Safety Goals. Accessed March 28, 2014 http://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/6/HAP_NPSG_Chapter_2014.pdf Tzeng, H., Yin, C. and Schneider, TE (2013). Problems related to medication errors in nursing practice. MEDSURG Nursing, 22(1), 13-50. Young, J., Slebodnik, M., & Sands, L. (2010). Barcode technology and drug delivery error. Journal of Patient Safety, 6(2), 115-120. doi:10.1097/PTS.0b013e3181de35f7