Systematic review of types of safety incidents and the processes and systems used for safety incident reporting in care homes

AIMS

To identify the safety incident reporting systems and processes used within care homes to capture staff reports of safety incidents, and the types and characteristics of safety incidents captured by safety incident reporting systems.

DESIGN

Systematic review following PRISMA reporting guidelines.

METHODS

Databases were searched January 2023 for studies published after year 2000, written in English, focus on care homes and incident reporting systems. Data were extracted using a bespoke data extraction tool, and quality was assessed. Data were analysed descriptively and using narrative synthesis, with types and characteristics of incidents analysed using the International Classification for Patient Safety.

DATA SOURCES

Databases were CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, HMIC, ASSISA, Nursing and Allied Health Database, MedNar and OpenGrey.

RESULTS

We identified 8150 papers with 106 studies eligible for inclusion, all conducted in high-income countries. Numerous incident reporting processes and systems were identified. Using modalities, typical incident reporting systems captured all types of incidents via electronic computerized reporting, with reports made by nursing staff and captured information about patient demographics, the incident and post-incident actions, whilst some reporting systems included medication- and falls-specific information. Reports were most often used to summarize data and identify trends. Incidents categories most often were patient behaviour, clinical process/procedure, documentation, medication/intravenous fluids and falls. Various contributing and mitigating factors and actions to reduce risk were identified. The most reported action to reduce risk was to improve safety culture. Individual outcomes were often reported, but social/economic impact of incidents and organizational outcomes were rarely reported.

CONCLUSIONS

This review has demonstrated a complex picture of incident reporting in care homes with evidence limited to high-income countries, highlighting a significant knowledge gap. The findings emphasize the central role of nursing staff in reporting safety incidents and the lack of standardized reporting systems and processes.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE

The findings from this study can inform the development or adaptation of safety incident reporting systems in care home settings, which is of relevance for nurses, care home managers, commissioners and regulators. This can help to improve patient care by identifying common safety issues across various types of care home and inform learning responses, which require further research.

IMPACT

This study addresses a gap in the literature on the systems and processes used to report safety incidents in care homes across many countries, and provides a comprehensive overview of safety issues identified via incident reporting.

REPORTING METHOD

PRISMA.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

A member of the research team is a patient and public representative, involved from study conception.

Staff Experiences in Managing Incidents in Nursing Homes: A Descriptive Qualitative Study

Introduction

Adverse incidents in nursing home (NH) may occur as the result of inadequate monitoring for signs of unobservable initial complications, medical errors, improper nursing interventions, lack of communication, and inadequate reporting.

Purpose

This study explores incident types, causes, handling, and documentation in Indonesian NHs through a qualitative approach.

Patients and Methods

In-depth interviews were conducted with 23 NH staff members, including managers, nurses, and support staff.

Results

Five themes and 17 sub-themes emerged, with falls and resident-to-resident abuse as common adverse incidents. Causes included older adults' conditions, environment, and misunderstanding. Follow-up action included first aid, hospital referrals, and assertive communication. Adverse incidents were actively reported through verbal and written reports or WhatsApp groups. Reports and documentation remain unstructured, however, as there were no standard operating procedures regarding incident reporting, documentation, and the types of adverse incidents that staff should report.

Conclusion

Improvements in management, documentation, and reporting adverse incidents are highlighted in this research. Practitioners, nurses, and social workers should develop guidelines for handling, reporting, and documenting adverse incidents in NHs.

Psychometric properties of the Indonesian version of the nursing home survey on patient safety culture

INTRODUCTION

The development of resident safety culture in nursing homes (NH) represents a major challenge for governments and NH owners, with a requirement for suitable tools to assess safety culture. Indonesia currently lacks suitable safety cultures scales for NH.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the translated Indonesian version of the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture (NHSOPSC-INA).

METHODS

This study was a cross-sectional survey conducted using NHSOPSC-INA. A total of 258 participants from 20 NH in Indonesia were engaged. Participants included NH managers, caregivers, administrative staff, nurses and support staff with at least junior high school education. The SPSS 23.0 was used for descriptive data analysis and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) estimation. The AMOS (version 22) was used to perform confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the questionnaire's dimensional structure.

RESULTS

The NHSOPSC CFA test originally had 12 dimensions with 42 items and was modified to eight dimensions with 26 items in the Indonesian version. The deleted dimensions were 'Staffing' (4 items), 'Compliance with procedure' (3 items), 'Training and skills' (3 items), 'non-punitive response to mistakes' (4 items) and 'Organisational learning' (2 items). The subsequent analysis revealed an accepted model with 26 NHSOPSC-INA items (root mean square error of approximation = 0.091, comparative fit index = 0.815, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.793, CMIN = 798.488, df = 291, CMIN/Df = 2.74, GFI = 0.782, AGFI = 0.737, p < 0.0001) and a factor loading value of 0.538-0.981. Expert feedback confirmed the relevance of the instrument items (content validity index [CVI] = 0.942).

CONCLUSION

The modified NHSPOSC-INA model with eight dimensions (26 items) fits the data set in the context of Indonesian NH services.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

The NHSPOSC-INA is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing staff perceptions of NH resident safety culture in Indonesia. The questionnaire can now be used to evaluate interventions for resident safety in Indonesian NH.

Documentation and disclosure of adverse events that led to compensated patient injury in a Norwegian university hospital

OBJECTIVE

Primarily, to describe to what extent patient injury, compensated by a national system of patient compensation, was reported in the mandatory incident-reporting system and documented in the patient's medical records. Secondarily, to investigate whether there is documentation of patient disclosure of the injury and documentation that the patient was informed of his or her right to apply for economic compensation.

DESIGN

A retrospective study of administrative data and patient records.

SETTING

Trondheim University Hospital, Norway.

PARTICIPANTS

Patients receiving financial compensation for patient injuries that occurred between the 1 March 2009 and the 31 December 2012.

INTERVENTION

None.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Documentation of injury, type of injury and consequence for the patient. Patient disclosure in medical records. Prevalence of incident reports.

RESULTS

20.4% of all compensated patient injuries and 26.3% of serious compensated patient injuries, defined as death or a disability of >15%, had been reported. The injury was documented in the patient's medical records in 90.7% of cases, but as an adverse event causing patient injury in only 3.4%. Documentation about patient disclosure was missing in 32.1% of cases, and giving information of his or her legal right to claim compensation was documented in 21.6% of cases.

CONCLUSION

Underreporting and nondisclosure of patient injuries remain a problem, despite a mandatory reporting system. Helping physicians and surgeons recognize adverse events, reporting them and discussing them with patients should be a priority for hospitals and medical schools.