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Core course for every profession

Preventing Recurrence: Ensuring a Mistake or Misconduct Is Not Repeated

Root Causes, Personal Action Plans and Evidence of Change

  • 2 CPD hoursEstimated learning time
  • 15-question assessmentPass mark 80%
  • Online, self-pacedStart any time
  • CertificateFor your CPD records

Written for

About this course

After a clinical error, a complaint or a notification, every practitioner says the same thing: it will not happen again. The difficulty is that good intentions fade. Workload returns, the same pressures reappear, and controls that relied on trying harder quietly slip away. Patients, employers and National Boards know this, which is why they look for evidence that the risk of recurrence has actually been reduced, not just a promise.

This course gives you a practical, step-by-step method to prevent a mistake or misconduct from being repeated. You will learn to reconstruct what really happened, find the root causes behind the obvious explanation, choose controls that work even on your worst day, write a personal prevention plan, and gather evidence that the plan is working. The method applies to medication and documentation errors, missed results, communication failures, boundary and probity matters, and health-related lapses.

Worked examples from nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry, occupational therapy and other professions show what a strong plan looks like compared with a weak one. You finish with a reflective account and a clear framework you can use for your own situation, whether or not a regulator is involved. The emphasis throughout is practical: short tables, planning templates and if-then scripts you can adapt the same day, rather than abstract theory about patient safety. If you are part of a team, the same tools can be used to strengthen shared systems such as results tracking, handover and medicines storage, so that colleagues benefit from what you have learned.

Who this course is for

  • Registered health practitioners in any profession who want to make sure an error is not repeated
  • Practitioners responding to a complaint, incident review or Ahpra notification
  • Practitioners returning to practice after a period of conditions, supervision or leave
  • Clinical leads and managers supporting a colleague after an incident
  • Practitioners whose concern involves boundaries, probity, communication or record-keeping
  • Anyone who wants a structured method for turning incident learning into lasting change
  • Mentors and supervisors who help colleagues design and monitor prevention plans

What you’ll learn

  • Find the real causes

    Build a sourced timeline, analyse contributing factors across six categories and reject explanations that are too shallow to act on.

  • Choose controls that hold

    Use the hierarchy of effectiveness to layer system changes, checks and targeted learning instead of relying on vigilance.

  • Write a plan you can follow

    Produce a prevention plan with specific actions, owners, dates, lead measures, if-then responses and review points.

  • Show that change is real

    Gather audit results, logs and third-party reports and present them honestly, without overclaiming.

Learning objectives

  • Explain why the risk of recurrence is central to how regulators, employers and patients respond to errors and misconduct.
  • Construct an accurate, neutral account of an event from multiple sources.
  • Analyse contributing factors and root causes using systems thinking and simple tools.
  • Apply root-cause thinking to conduct, boundary, probity and health-related matters.
  • Select and layer controls using the hierarchy of effectiveness.
  • Write a personal prevention plan with specific actions, owners, measures and review dates.
  • Gather and present honest evidence that controls are operating.
  • Sustain change over time and respond openly if an event recurs.

Scenarios covered

Practice situations you reason through, step by step, in the course.

  • The look-alike medicine

    A pharmacist dispenses the wrong strength. See how physical separation, scanning and targeted learning combine into a layered plan.

  • The patient who fell

    A physiotherapist's "I turned away for a moment" becomes three root causes and three controls through the five whys.

  • The wrong resident's medicines

    An aged care nurse discovers that outdated chart photos and a habitual shortcut sat behind "I was rushing".

  • Billing for longer consultations

    A podiatrist links documented times to billing items and adds an independent quarterly audit.

  • Incomplete home assessments

    An occupational therapist replaces a folder of certificates with audits showing improvement over six months.

  • When it happens again

    Work through the steps to take if a similar event recurs despite a genuine plan, and why openness matters.

Course contents

7 sections, 28 lessons, then the final assessment.

  1. Section 1: Why Preventing Recurrence Matters4 lessons
    • 1.1 Recurrence as the Central Question
    • 1.2 Promises Versus Prevention
    • 1.3 Patterns of Recurrence
    • 1.4 Where This Course Fits
  2. Section 2: Understanding What Really Happened4 lessons
    • 2.1 Building an Accurate Account
    • 2.2 Systems Thinking and Contributing Factors
    • 2.3 Simple Tools for Finding Root Causes
    • 2.4 Error, At-Risk Behaviour and Reckless Conduct
  3. Section 3: Root Causes in Conduct, Boundaries and Health4 lessons
    • 3.1 Why Conduct Matters Need Root-Cause Analysis Too
    • 3.2 Triggers and High-Risk Situations
    • 3.3 Health, Fatigue and Wellbeing as Root Causes
    • 3.4 Avoiding Shallow Root Causes
  4. Section 4: Designing Controls That Work4 lessons
    • 4.1 The Hierarchy of Effectiveness Applied to Your Practice
    • 4.2 Building System Controls Into Your Workflow
    • 4.3 People Controls: Supervision, Mentoring and Peer Review
    • 4.4 The Right Role for Education
  5. Section 5: Building a Personal Prevention Plan4 lessons
    • 5.1 The Structure of a Prevention Plan
    • 5.2 Writing Specific, Measurable Actions
    • 5.3 Implementation Intentions and Relapse Prevention
    • 5.4 Adapting the Plan to Different Kinds of Event
  6. Section 6: Evidence That Change Has Happened4 lessons
    • 6.1 What Counts as Evidence
    • 6.2 Running a Simple Audit Cycle
    • 6.3 Measuring Behaviour, Not Just Knowledge
    • 6.4 Presenting Evidence Honestly
  7. Section 7: Sustaining Change Over Time4 lessons
    • 7.1 Drift, Complacency and Review
    • 7.2 Sharing Learning and Strengthening the System
    • 7.3 Looking After Yourself While Sustaining Change
    • 7.4 If It Happens Again
  8. Final assessment and written reflection15 questions

Assessment and certificate

  1. Work through the course

    Study each section at your own pace, including the case illustrations and apply-it questions.

  2. Pass the assessment

    15 scenario-based questions. You need 12 correct (80%) to pass.

  3. Write your reflection

    A short written reflection on how the learning applies to your own practice.

  4. Download your certificate

    Shows your name, the course, the date and 2 CPD hours. Anyone can check it on our verification page.

What you keep for your CPD records

  • A certificate of completion recording approximately 2 CPD hours of learning
  • A reflective account on your root causes, controls and evidence plan
  • A prevention plan template and worked examples you can adapt
  • A quick-reference guide covering account, analysis, controls, plan, evidence and sustaining change

How certificates and CPD records workVerify a certificate

Primary sources

The course is built on these official documents. Check them for the current version.

Questions about this course

Is this course recognised by Ahpra or a National Board?

No. It is independent education: not accredited, not approved and not endorsed by Ahpra, any National Board or any professional body. You record the time you actually spend and decide whether it fits your CPD plan.

Will completing this course satisfy a condition on my registration?

Only your Board can decide that. If you have conditions or undertakings, check with Ahpra and your Board, and with your lawyer, medical defence organisation or insurer, before relying on any course.

How is this different from courses on insight, reflection or remediation?

This course focuses on the mechanics of preventing a repeat: root-cause analysis, controls, a written plan and evidence that it is working. Insight, reflective writing, remediation and rebuilding trust are covered in separate courses.

Does it apply to conduct and boundary issues, or only clinical errors?

Both. A full section applies root-cause thinking to conduct, boundaries, probity and health-related events, and the planning tools are adapted for each type.

How many CPD hours is it?

It is designed for about 2 hours of learning, including the reflective account and the 15-question assessment. Record the time you genuinely spend. Many practitioners also spend extra time afterwards drafting their own prevention plan using the course templates; you can record that time too if it forms part of your CPD plan.

Do I need to share details of my own incident?

No. The reflective account is stored only on your device. Avoid including information that could identify a patient or colleague, and seek legal advice before writing about matters that are subject to ongoing proceedings.

What is the pass mark?

You need 12 out of 15 (80%) on scenario-based multiple-choice questions based on the course content.

What makes a prevention plan convincing to an employer or Board?

A convincing plan links each root cause to specific controls, favours system changes over promises to be careful, names who is responsible and by when, and includes measures that show the controls are operating, such as repeated audits or a supervisor's report. The course shows how to build each of these elements and how to present them concisely without overclaiming.

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