Agree.
For answer "A" the national patient safety goals are standards that have elements of performance that show whether an organization is in compliance with these goals.
Similarly, answer "b" provides a framework to aid an organziation to develop and operate in a manner that is consistant with best practices.
Answer "c" is a tool used in TQM for continuous quality improvement.
Answer "D" is a tool that is used to get to the "root" of the issue that led to the event and therefore will be the starting point for developing a plan of action to ensure that mitigation strategies can be deployed to eliminate another related sentinel event from occurring.

Root cause analysis is beneficial at many times, even if the severity of an event has not risen to the level of a sentinel event. A root cause analysis is a useful tool when "near-miss" events occur to identify causes and situations that exist and then resolve them. Paying careful attention to near-miss events can help a quality organization safe guard against a sentinel event.

I agree with the posts above. RCA is very beneficial to get beyond finger pointing and find the root of the issue. I also agree this is a good process to undergo before issues become sentinel events so processes can be continually improved. In a healthcare environment where facilities may be held responsible to pay for care related to falls, wounds, infections, etc occuring at their location, this brings up another reason to get to the root of our issues as soon as they are identified.

Although conducting a RCA can be a grueling process, it allows you to dig deep to uncover the true causal factors. In order to prevent events from reoccuring and falling into the category of "we have always done it like this", an RCA is a useful tool that can be used to protect patients, staff, and the organization from future recourse.