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Knowledge on errors is important to design safe nursing practice and its framework. This article presents results of a survey on this topic, including data of a representative sample of 724 nurses from 30 German hospitals. Participants predominantly remembered medication errors. Structural and organizational factors were rated as most important causes of errors. Reporting rates were considered low; this was explained by organizational barriers. Nurses in large part expressed having suffered from mental problems after error events. Nurses' perception focussing on medication errors seems to be influenced by current discussions which are mainly medication-related. This priority should be revised. Hospitals' risk management should concentrate on organizational deficits and positive error cultures. Decision makers are requested to tackle structural problems such as staff shortage.

Little has been written in German scientific literature on the personality structure of white-collar criminals. Often, the relevance of this level of investigation has downright been denied. Conventional psychopathology does not seem to be an appropriate approach to these character problems since there are not only deficits but also competences to be found which are useful while making a professional career. The author points out the inhomogeneity of this offender population and presents a case report of an atypical white-collar criminal. Over and above that, he introduces two psychological concepts which are apt to better describe the peculiarities of these individuals: Machiavellian intelligence is often the core competence when it comes to rising in hierarchies, whereas the newly defined psychopathy concept according to R. D. Hare makes plausible the moral and ethical failure of these offenders in their professional settings.

In the years 1992-94 the Child Protection Centre Kiel carried out the first investigation of how various institutions (nursery schools, schools, advisory offices, children's specialists, youth welfare departments, police, judicial authorities etc.) in the German-speaking area deal with suspected cases of sexual child abuse. A special comprehensive questionnaire and a personal interview were drawn up to find out details concerning knowledge, experiences, attitudes and concrete measures of the employees. The particulars were evaluated of about 900 persons from three differently structured districts in Schleswig-Holstein. The institutions (with the exception of the police and judicial authorities) do not have any clear concepts regarding the handling of suspected cases of sexual child abuse. The reactions of the institutions usually depend on the level of knowledge, experience and subjective assessment of individual employees. Roles are not clearly defined and there is not enough cooperation between the institutions. The employees require more practice-orientated training and case-specific supervision. There are not enough coordination bodies for those concerned, therapeutic places and accommodation possibilities for children and youths as well as effective offers of assistance for adults and youths who have abused children.