SEGURIDAD DEL PACIENTE Y CULTURA DE SEGURIDAD

Exploring the relationship between midwives' work environment, women's safety culture, and intent to stay

BACKGROUND

The shortage of midwives is a concern for healthcare systems as it compromises the quality maternity care. Various studies argue that a favorable work environment increases nurses' job satisfaction and intention to continue working at their current workplace.

AIM

To analyze the work environment and its relationship with women's clinical safety culture and midwives' intention to stay in their current job and the midwifery profession.

METHODS

A cross-sectional, correlational study was performed on N = 218 midwives working in Spain. Standardized instruments were used, including The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) and the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC). Descriptive and bivariable statistics were used. The study followed the STROBE guidelines.

RESULTS

The work environment in the labor wards was mixed, according to the PES-NWI classification. The mean total score of the PES-NWI significantly and positively correlated with the mean total score of the HSOPSC (rs = 0.498, p < 0.001), indicating that as the quality of midwives' work environment increased, women's clinical safety increased. Significant correlations were observed between the midwives' intent to stay in the hospital where they work and features of women's safety culture.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study showed significant relationships between the work environment, women's safety culture, and midwives' intentions to leave their job/profession. Creating a favorable working environment could be a potentially effective strategy that encourages improvement in the women's safety culture in healthcare organizations and greater intention of midwives to stay at their current job.

Patient Safety Culture in a Tertiary Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

Patient safety (PS) culture is the set of values and norms common to the individuals of an organization. Assessing the culture is a priority to improve the quality and PS of hospital services. This study was carried out in a tertiary hospital to analyze PS culture among the professionals and to determine the strengths and weaknesses that influence this perception. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out. The AHRQ Questionnaire on the Safety of Patients in Hospitals (SOPS) was used. A high perception of PS was found among the participants. In the strengths found, efficient teamwork, mutual help between colleagues and the support of the manager and head of the unit stood out. Among the weaknesses, floating professional templates, a perception of pressure and accelerated pace of work, and loss of relevant information on patient transfer between units and shift changes were observed. Among the areas for improvement detected were favoring feedback to front-line professionals, abandoning punitive measures and developing standardized tools that minimize the loss of information.

Nurses' Perception of Patient Safety Culture in a Referral Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

Healthcare systems are becoming increasingly complex which is helping to promote a ‘culture of safety’ within them based on the best scientific evidence available. Indeed, creating a positive institutional culture of patient safety is reflected in health outcomes. The aim of this present study was to describe the perception of culture of safety by nurses in adult inpatient units in a tertiary hospital and to analyze adverse events reporting. It was a cross-sectional study in which 202 nurses from adult hospitalization units of the Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe in Valencia (Spain) participated. The perception of safety culture was measured using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety questionnaire version 1.0, which consists of 42 items distributed in 12 dimensions that are considered strengths or weaknesses. In addition, adverse events related to nursing care during the study period and those reported in the official hospital registry were collected. Finally, the association between safety culture and sociodemographic and labor variables was explored. A total of 148 responses to the questionnaire were analyzed (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.94), where seven dimensions and 25 items were identified as weaknesses. Two hundred and fourteen events were identified and none were reported in the official registry. Years of experience were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with safety culture. It is necessary to establish strategies to improve the perception of the safety culture of nurses, as well as to make nurses aware of the importance of notifying adverse events derived from health care.

Spanish Version of the Scale "Eventos Adversos Associados às Práticas de Enfermagem" (EAAPE): Validation in Nursing Students

Healthcare carried out by different health professionals, including nurses, implies the possible appearance of adverse events that affect the safety of the patient and may cause damage to the patient. In clinical practice, it is necessary to have measurement instruments that allow for the evaluation of the presence of these types of events in order to prevent them. This study aims to validate the "Eventos adversos associados às práticas de enfermagem" (EAAPE) scale in Spanish and evaluate its reliability. The validation was carried out through a cross-sectional study with a sample of 337 nursing students from the University of Valencia recruited during the 2018-19 academic year. An exploratory factor analysis was carried out using principal components and varimax rotation. The factor analysis extracted two factors that explained 32.10% of the total variance. Factor 1 explains 22.19% and refers to the "adverse results" of clinical practice (29 items), and factor 2 explains 9.62% and refers to "preventive practices" (24 items). Both factors presented high reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.902 and 0.905, respectively). The Spanish version of the EAAPE is valid and reliable for measuring the perception of adverse events associated with nursing practice and the presence of prevention measures.

Nurses' perceptions of patient safety culture: a mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND

There are relatively few qualitative studies concerning patient safety culture.

METHODS

We aimed to explore patient safety culture as perceived by the nursing staff in two public hospitals in Catalonia, Spain. A mixed-methods design was employed using a questionnaire, in-depth interviews, and non-participant observations.

RESULTS

Sixty-two percent of the nursing staff rated patient safety as "Acceptable" but was not higher because of work pressure and lack of resources as perceived by staff. "Teamwork within units" had the highest rate of positive responses, and "Staffing" had the lowest rate. Emergency units showed more negative results than the other two units.

CONCLUSIONS

Safety incidents are not always reported due to fear of punishment, reflecting a lack of positive safety culture. It is necessary to design and implement strategies that promote a positive culture to avoid punitive responses and apply and evaluate these changes.

Cultura de la seguridad del paciente en seis centros quirúrgicos de Antioquia

Introducción: Colombia, como otros países promueve políticas de seguridad al paciente con el fin de evitar situaciones que afecten su bienestar y su salud, asimismo, reducir y, de ser posible, eliminar la ocurrencia de eventos adversos.  Objetivo: Caracterizar la cultura de seguridad del paciente referido por el personal de seis centros quirúrgicos de Antioquia. Materiales y métodos: Estudio multicéntrico transversal descriptivo. Se aplicó el instrumento Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture propuesto por la Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) a 514 trabajadores del área de la salud. Por recomendación de AHRQ, se recodificó la escala de Likert de la encuesta. Resultados: En una escala de cero a diez, el promedio del clima de seguridad en los servicios de cirugía es 8. El 62% de las respuestas sobre la percepción de la cultura de la seguridad fue positiva en aprendizaje organizacional/mejora continua en 81.70% de los trabajadores; en el trabajo en equipo en el servicio, 81.54%. Se encontraron oportunidades de mejora en dotación de personal (49.98%); respuesta no punitiva a errores (45.98%); y franqueza en comunicación (44.28%). Discusión: las dimensiones que son fortalezas y debilidades reportadas en la investigación son comparables con las reportadas en otros estudios y requiere atención del sistema de salud y de las direcciones de las instituciones. Conclusión: Se detectaron fortalezas y debilidades en la cultura de seguridad de los pacientes. En cuanto a las Fortalezas: el Aprendizaje organizacional/mejora continua y el Trabajo en equipo en la Unidad/Servicio; el resto son oportunidades de mejora. Como citar este artículo: Salazar Maya Ángela María, Restrepo Marín Diana Marcela. Cultura de la seguridad del paciente en seis centros quirúrgicos de Antioquia. Revista Cuidarte. 2020; 11(2): e1040. http://dx.doi.org/10.15649/cuidarte.1040