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Providing technical writing instruction within a large, first-year engineering course involves both logistical and imaginative challenges but can also yield substantive results. In the fall of 2003, the University of Maine initiated a new plan, called the Engineering Communication Project (ECP), to integrate technical writing instruction throughout the College of Engineering curricula. Civil Engineering Materials Laboratory (CIE 111) was the first course to incorporate the new plan. CIE 111 is a 1-credit laboratory component of a basic course in civil engineering materials, incorporating topics in material variability, plastics, metals, wood and concrete. Historically, students produced five full academic lab reports during the semester, with less than satisfactory results for the most part. Recent enrollment growth (to around 100 students) introduced further complication. The new ECP approach replaced the academic lab reports with five case-based memo assignments, which allowed for more specific instructional goals, more meaningful feedback to students and a reduced paper-reading load for engineering faculty. Specific goals for the memo assignments included learning memo format, and developing COPE writing skills (Clarity, Organization, Precision and Economy). The ECP is a cooperative effort between the Department of English and the College of Engineering and is supported by a grant from the Davis Educational Foundation. In summary, each engineering department will use alumni and faculty surveys to develop core competencies in technical communication. Departments will then integrate those competencies in appropriate courses throughout the curricula, with guidance from English department faculty. William Manion and David Adams describe the design and implementation of this assignment regimen and use examples for illustration. Manion and Adams also discuss some of the issues encountered and present initial assessments of the effort. Intr oductionThe University of Maine has begun a multi-year effort to redesign the way it teaches technical communication to students in the College of Engineering. This effort is called the Engineering Communication Project (ECP). At its core, this new design will mean replacing the existing requirement of a stand alone course in technical communication (3 credits) with a sequence of three communication-intensive engineering courses. This sequence will be followed by a yearlong capstone design course in which technical communication plays a substantial role. The capstone course will also provide the opportunity for a final assessment of the endeavor through

Purpose Medical errors have become the third leading cause of death in the USA. Two million deaths from preventable medical errors will occur annually worldwide each year. The purpose of this paper is to find themes from the literature relating leadership styles – leadership approaches in practice – with success in reducing medical errors and patient safety. Design/methodology/approach This review analyzed primary and secondary sources based on a search for the terms leadership OR leadership style AND medical errors OR patient safety using five high-quality health-care-specific databases: Healthcare Administration Database from Proquest, LLC, Emerald Insight from Emerald Publishing Limited, ScienceDirect from Elsevier, Ovid from Ovid Technologies and MEDLINE with Full-Text from Elton B. Stevens Company. After narrowing, the review considered 21 sources that met the criteria. Findings The review found three leadership approaches and four leadership actions connected to successfully reducing medical errors and improving patient safety. Transformational, authentic and shared leadership produced successful outcomes. The review also found four leadership actions – regular checks on the front line and promoting teamwork, psychological safety and open communication – associated with successful outcomes. The review concluded that leadership appeared to be the preeminent factor in reducing medical errors and improving patient safety. It also found that positive leadership approaches, regardless of the safety intervention, led to improving results and outcomes. Research limitations/implications This review was limited in three ways. First, the review only included sources from the USA, the UK, Canada and Australia. While those countries have similar public-private health-care systems and similar socioeconomics, the problem of medical errors is global (Rodziewicz and Hipskind, 2019). Other leadership approaches or actions may have correlated to reducing medical errors by broadening the geographic selection parameters. Future research could remove geographic restrictions for selection. Second, the author has a bias toward leadership as distinctive from management. There may be additional insights gleaned from expanding the search terms to include management concepts. Third, the author is a management consultant to organizations seeking to improve health-care safety. The author’s bias against limited action as opposed to strategic leadership interventions is profound and significant. This bias may generalize the problem more than necessary. Practical implications There are three direct practical implications from this review. The limitations of this review bound these implications. First, organizations might assess strategic and operational leaders to determine their competencies for positive leadership. Second, organizations just beginning to frame or reframe a safety strategy can perhaps combine safety and leadership interventions for better outcomes. Third, organizations could screen applicants to assess team membership and team leadership orientation and competencies. Originality/value This review is valuable to practitioners who are interested in conceptual relationships between leadership approaches, safety culture and reducing medical errors. The originality of this research is limited to that of any literature review. It summarizes the main themes in the selected literature. The review provides a basis for future considerations centered on dual organizational interventions for leadership and safety.

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