The Relationships Among Perceived Patients' Safety Culture, Intention to Report Errors, and Leader Coaching Behavior of Nurses in Korea: A Pilot Study

Relationship between nurses' critical thinking disposition and patient safety incident reporting: The mediating role of patient safety culture in a comprehensive nursing service ward

At present, patient safety nursing by nurses is important and the risk of patient safety incidents is high. However, the comprehensive nursing service ward in Korea has no guardians. To prevent patient safety incidents and its recurrence, it is necessary to accurately report patient safety incidents. Patient safety incident reporting may be different depending on an individual's critical thinking disposition and patient safety culture (organization, department, individual). This study was a descriptive survey and aimed to suggest ways to improve the reporting of patient safety incidents in Korea. The study participants were 130 nurses working in the comprehensive nursing service ward of a Korean university hospital. From October 5-18, 2023, we conducted a survey of nurses' critical thinking dispositions, patient safety culture, and patient safety incident reporting. The mediating effect of patient safety culture on the relationship between critical thinking disposition and patient safety incident reporting was analyzed using PROCESS Macro Model 4. The results show that the patient safety incident report of nurses in the comprehensive nursing service ward was related to nurses' critical thinking disposition and the nursing department's patient safety culture. In particular, it was found that the department's patient safety culture had a mediating effect (β = 0.11, 95% CI = 0.01~0.22) on the relationship between critical thinking disposition and patient safety incident reports. To encourage patient safety incident reports in nurses in the comprehensive nursing service ward, it is necessary to improve the organizational culture of the department (presenting free opinions or problems) and to develop strategies to promote critical thinking among nurses.

Nursing leadership style and error management culture: a scoping review

PURPOSE

This paper aims to assess the influence of nursing leadership style on error management culture (EMC).

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

This scoping review was conducted following the integrative review methodology of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase and EBSCO databases were systematically searched to identify studies on nursing leadership, error management and measurement, and error management culture. The studies' methodological quality was then assessed using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies.

FINDINGS

Thirteen manuscripts were included for review. The analysis confirmed that nursing leadership plays an important role in EMC and nurses' intention to report errors. Three emerging themes were identified: 1) leadership and EMC; 2) leadership and the intention to report errors; and 3) leadership and error rate.

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS

A major limitation of the studies is that errors are often analyzed in a transversal way and associated with patient safety, and not as a single concept.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Healthcare managers should promote training dedicated to head nurses and their leadership style, for creating a good work environment in which nurses feel free and empowered to report errors, learn from them and prevent their reoccurrence in the future.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

There is a positive relationship between nursing leadership and error management in terms of reduced errors and increased benefits. Positive nursing leadership leads to improvements in the caring quality.

Multidimensional analysis of supervisors' safety leadership on safety violations of construction workers: An empirical investigation

BACKGROUND

Frontline supervisors have the most frequent interactions with workers on construction projects. Although Supervisors' Safety Leadership (SSL) is commonly practiced, its specific inter-relationship with workers' safety violations remains unclear, especially when it comes to detailed interactions between supervisors and workers, such as supervisors' safety coaching/safety controlling/safety caring against workers' situational/routine safety violations.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to uncover the intrinsic relationship between SSL and safety violations from the perspective of construction workers with the help of mediating variables at both organizational and individual levels.

METHODS

A questionnaire survey was conducted to test all hypotheses based on empirical data from 346 construction workers. The path coefficient of the fitted model was then analyzed, including associated mediating effects.

RESULTS

Situational safety violations are directly affected only by safety caring (β= -0.161, p < 0.05), while routine safety violations are impacted only by safety coaching (β= -0.159, p < 0.05). SSL can influence different types of safety violations through differing mediators. In particular, safety coaching acts on individuals' routine safety violations mainly through self-efficacy (β= 0.199, p < 0.01; standardized indirect effect = -0.121, 95% CI[-0.226, -0.024]); safety controlling is more oriented to influence individuals' situational safety violations through group safety norm (β= 0.383, p < 0.001; standardized indirect effect = -0.091, 95% CI[-0.177, -0.036]); and safety caring further influences individuals' situational safety violations mainly through safety motivation (β= 0.581, p < 0.001; standardized indirect effect = -0.263, 95% CI[-0.418, -0.146]).

CONCLUSION

The research enhances existing knowledge by clarifying the complex relationships between supervisor behavior and safety outcomes, particularly from the perceptions of construction workers towards supervisors' actions and leadership.

Coaching leadership and creative performance: A serial mediation model of psychological empowerment and constructive voice behavior

This study empirically analyzes the role of coaching leadership in enhancing an organization's creative performance, discussing and evaluating important mediating paths of coaching leadership regarding creative performance. As a result of an empirical analysis based on survey data collected from 332 employees of Korean companies, this study first confirms that coaching leadership has a positive effect on both employees' creative performance. We also found that psychological empowerment and constructive voice behavior positively mediated the relationship between coaching leadership and creative performance. Finally, the serial mediating effect of coaching leadership on creative performance was tested through psychological empowerment and constructive voice behavior and confirmed to have a positive effect. This study indicates the importance of leadership as a critical variable that promotes employees' creative performance. In addition, by confirming the serial mediating role of psychological empowerment and constructive voice behavior, this study improves understanding of key mechanism in which coaching leadership leads to creative performance.

The relationship between patient safety culture and patient safety competency with adverse events: a multicenter cross-sectional study

Background

Patient safety culture and patient safety competency could be associated with adverse events (AEs). This study aimed to investigate the associations between nurses’ perceptions of patient safety culture, patient safety competency, and AEs.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was carried out among 338 nurses employed in three university hospitals in Qom, Iran between 17 August 2021 and 12 November 2021. Data were collected using three questionnaires: patient safety culture, patient safety competency, and AEs. Data were analyzed using SPSS-21 software. A multiple logistic regression model was used to analyze the data.

Results

The results of this study showed that medication errors were significantly associated with “frequency of events reported” (OR = 0.706, P = 0.012), “supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting patient safety” (OR = 0.733, P = 0.048), and “management support for patient safety” (OR = 0.755, P = 0.012). Pressure ulcers were significantly associated with “supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting patient safety” (OR = 0.729, P = 0.039), “handoffs and transition” (OR = 0.707, P = 0.034), and “comfort speaking up about patient safety” (OR = 0.614, P = 0.016). Falls were significantly associated with “teamwork within units” (OR = 0.735, P = 0.031), “feedback and communication about error” (OR = 0.756, P = 0.046), and “handoffs and transition” (OR = 0.660, P = 0.012). The use of restraints for ≥8 hr. was significantly associated with “management support for patient safety” (OR = 0.701, P = 0.021).

Conclusions

According to the results of this study, AEs are associated with some dimensions of patient safety culture and patient safety competency. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and identify interventions to reduce the occurrence of AEs.

Safety culture and adverse event reporting in Ghanaian healthcare facilities: Implications for patient safety

INTRODUCTION

Recognizing the values and norms significant to healthcare organizations (Safety Culture) are the prerequisites for safety and quality care. Understanding the safety culture is essential for improving undesirable workforce attitudes and behaviours such as lack of adverse event reporting. The study assessed the frequency of adverse event reporting, the patient safety culture determinants of the adverse event reporting, and the implications for Ghanaian healthcare facilities.

METHODS

The study employed a multi-centre cross-sectional survey on 1651 health professionals in 13 healthcare facilities in Ghana using the Survey on Patient Safety (SOPS) Culture, Hospital Survey questionnaire. Analyses included descriptive, Spearman Rho correlation, one-way ANOVA, and a Binary logistic regression model.

RESULTS

The majority of health professionals had at least reported adverse events in the past 12 months across all 13 healthcare facilities. Teamwork (Mean: 4.18, SD: 0.566) and response to errors (Mean: 3.40, SD: 0.742) were the satisfactory patient safety culture. The patient safety culture dimensions were statistically significant (χ2 (9, N = 1642) = 69.28, p < .001) in distinguishing between participants who frequently reported adverse events and otherwise.

CONCLUSION

Promoting an effective patient safety culture is the ultimate way to overcome the challenges of adverse event reporting, and this can effectively be dealt with by developing policies to regulate the incidence and reporting of adverse events. The quality of healthcare and patient safety can also be enhanced when healthcare managers dedicate adequate support and resources to ensure teamwork, effective communication, and blame-free culture.

Causes of Nurses' Second Victim Distress: An Objective Analysis

BACKGROUND

Unanticipated adverse events could harm not only patients and families but also health care professionals. These people are defined as second victims. Second victim distress (SVD) refers to physical, emotional, and professional problems of health care professionals. While positive patient safety cultures (PSCs) are associated with reducing severity of SVD, there is a dearth of research on the association between PSCs and SVD and the mediation effects in those associations.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to explore the associations between PSCs and SVD and verify the multiple mediation effects of colleague, supervisor, and institutional supports.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study using a self-report questionnaire was conducted among 296 nurses in South Korea. The participants were selected by quota sampling in 41 departments including general wards, intensive care units, etc. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, multiple linear regression, and multiple mediation analysis were conducted using SPSS 25.0 and the PROCESS macros.

RESULTS

Nonpunitive response to errors, communication openness, and colleague, supervisor, and institutional supports had negative correlations with SVD (Ps < .05). In the multiple mediation model, a nonpunitive response to error showed a significant direct effect on SVD (direct effect β = -.26, P < .001). Colleague, supervisor, and institutional supports showed a significant indirect effect between nonpunitive response to error and SVD; colleague (indirect effect β [Boot LLCI-Boot ULCI] = -.03 [-0.06 to -0.00]), supervisor (.03[0.00 to 0.07]), and institutional support (-.04 [-0.07 to -0.01]).

CONCLUSION

The study suggests that establishing nonpunitive organizational cultures is an effective strategy to reduce SVD. The findings highlight the importance of promoting programs that strengthen PSCs in hospitals and prioritizing support resources to reduce SVD among nurses.

Stepwise Interactive Situated Training Program for Young Nurses’ Safety Behavior and Interrupted Coping Behavior

Young nurses’ safety behavior and interrupted coping behavior affect patient safety. A stepped, interactive and situated training program should be evaluated to assist young nurses in improving themselves. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the stepwise interactive situated training program on safety behavior and practice ability with respect to nursing interruptions for young nurses and its influencing factors. This was a quasi-experimental, one-group, self-control and pretest–post-test design study. Six hundred young nurses in two provinces were included. The participants underwent a stepwise interactive situated training program from March to August 2019. The program was delivered by designated head nurses and consisted of five themes: mobilization, theoretical training, operational training, specialized training and self-improvement. Five hundred and sixty-two young nurses completed this study. The safety behavior and the practice of nursing interruption were significantly higher after intervention than before. Professional titles, age and occupational time were the influence factors. The stepwise interactive situated training program was effective at improving young nurses’ safety behavior and interrupted coping behavior. Nurses with higher professional titles performed better with regard to the safety behavior and the practice of nursing interruption.

Understanding Physicians' and Nurses' Adaption of National-Leading Patient Safety Culture Policy: A Qualitative Study in Tertiary and General Hospitals in Korea

BACKGROUND

In Korea, the safety culture is led by national policy. How the policy ensures a patient safety culture needs to be investigated. This study aimed to examine the way in which physicians and nurses regard, understand, or interpret the patient safety-related policy in the hospital setting.

METHODS

In this qualitative study, we conducted four focus group interviews (FGIs) with 25 physicians and nurses from tertiary and general hospitals in South Korea. FGIs data were analyzed using thematic analysis, which was conducted in an inductive and interpretative way.

RESULTS

Three themes were identified. The healthcare providers recognized its benefits in the forms of knowledge, information and training at least although the policy implemented by the law forcibly and temporarily. The second theme was about the interaction of the policy and the Korean context of healthcare, which makes a "turning point" in the safety culture. The final theme was about some strains and conflicts resulting from patient safety policy.

CONCLUSION

To provide a patient safety culture, it is necessary to develop a plan to improve the voluntary participation of healthcare professionals and their commitment to safety. Hospitals should provide more resources and support for healthcare professionals.

The influence of nursing leadership styles on the outcomes of patients, professionals and institutions: An integrative review

AIM

This review was conducted to map leadership styles that positively impact patients, professionals and institutions.

BACKGROUND

Leadership is a topic widely studied because it is a fundamental skill in establishing favourable work environments, in addition to enabling nurses to influence their team in the search for better results. Therefore, a synthesis of the various studies produced to date is essential for nurses, managers and researchers to understand the different styles of leadership that positively influence organizational results, so they can choose the style they deem most appropriate.

EVALUATION

An integrative literature review retrieved articles from five databases, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The level of evidence and its quality were assessed using the criteria of the Joanna Briggs Institute.

KEY ISSUES

Thirty-five studies were included, 18 of which reported the influence of leadership styles on patients (safety), nine on professionals (burnout) and eight on institutions (turnover and absenteeism).

CONCLUSION

Transformational leadership had positive results for patients, professionals, and institutions alike.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

The results showed the need for nurses to improve their leadership skills, especially in the transformational style, to achieve positive results.

Nursing coaching leadership and its influence on job satisfaction and patient safety

OBJECTIVE

To compare the nursing technicians' perception with the nurses' self-perception of the exercise of nurses' coaching leadership and to check the influence of this leadership model on the safety climate and on the team's satisfaction.

METHOD

This is a correlational study, carried out with 85 nurses and 85 nursing technicians, using the Questionnaire on the Nurse's Self-Perception of Leadership Exercise, the Questionnaire on Nursing Technicians' and Assistants' Perception of Leadership Exercise, and the subscales Safety climate and Satisfaction at Work. The relations among the professionals' responses were assessed using the Mann Whitney test and Spearman's coefficient.

RESULTS

Nurses achieved higher means in the four dimensions of coaching Leadership, and in three, the differences were significant (p < 0.05). The dimensions of Coaching Leadership obtained positive and significant correlations with the subscales Safety Climate and Satisfaction, the majority being of moderate magnitude.

CONCLUSION

Nurses' self-perception regarding the exercise of leadership was more positive than the technicians' assessment. The more the nurse exercises the dimensions of Coaching Leadership, the better the team's safety climate and satisfaction.

Psychological Safety as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Inclusive Leadership and Nurse Voice Behaviors and Error Reporting

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine psychological safety as a mediator of the relationship between inclusive leadership and nurses’ voice behaviors and error reporting. Voice behaviors were conceptualized as speaking up and withholding voice.

Design

This correlational study used a web‐based survey to obtain data from 526 nurses from the medical/surgical units of three tertiary general hospitals located in two cities in South Korea.

Methods

We used model 4 of Hayes’ PROCESS macro in SPSS to examine whether the effect of inclusive leadership on the three outcome variables was mediated by psychological safety.

Findings

Mediation analysis showed significant direct and indirect effects of nurse managers’ inclusive leadership on each of the three outcome variables through psychological safety after controlling for participant age and unit tenure. Our results also support the conceptualization of employee voice behavior as two distinct concepts: speaking up and withholding voice.

Conclusions

When leader inclusiveness helps nurses to feel psychologically safe, they are less likely to feel silenced, and more likely to speak up freely to contribute ideas and disclose errors for the purpose of improving patient safety.

Clinical Relevance

Leader inclusiveness would be especially beneficial in environments where offering suggestions, raising concerns, asking questions, reporting errors, or disagreeing with those in more senior positions is discouraged or considered culturally inappropriate.

Relationship between patient safety culture and safety performance in nursing: The role of safety behaviour

AIM

The aim of this work is to test the mediator role of patient safety behaviour between safety culture and safety performance among nurses.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was carried out between September and December 2017 in the nursing units of 10 primary hospitals, two secondary hospitals and two tertiary hospitals in Anhui Province, China.

RESULTS

The study participants comprised 79 RNs from primary hospitals, 147 RNs from secondary hospitals and 242 RNs from tertiary hospitals. Most were female (97.6%) and married (73.1%), and their ages ranged from less than 25 years to retirement age. The sample included nurses working in several departments, including medicine (27.1%), surgery (14.3%), emergency (11.5%) and ICU (9%). Structural equation model analysis results showed that espoused values directly affected safety performance, and practised values affected safety performance through safety behaviour.

CONCLUSION

Our hypothetical model noted that safety behaviour is a positive mediating factor of practised safety values affecting safety performance, suggesting that Chinese nursing managers should construct a patient safety culture that is guided and driven by appropriate values, which will ultimately be externalized as nurses' daily behaviour.

The impact of patient safety culture and the leader coaching behaviour of nurses on the intention to report errors: a cross-sectional survey

Background

There is growing interest in examining the factors affecting the reporting of errors by nurses. However, little research has been conducted into the effects of perceived patient safety culture and leader coaching of nurses on the intention to report errors.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted amongst 256 nurses in the emergency departments of 18 public and private hospitals in Tabriz, northwest Iran. Participants completed the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC), Coaching Behavior Scale and Intention to Report Errors’ questionnaires and the data was analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis.

Results

Overall, 43% of nurses had an intention to report errors; 50% of respondents reported that their nursing managers demonstrated high levels of coaching. With regard to patient safety culture, areas of strength and weakness were “teamwork within units” (PRR = 66.8%) and “non-punitive response errors” (PRR = 19.7%). Regression analysis findings highlighted a significant association between an intention to report errors and patient safety culture (B = 0.2, CI 95%: 0.1 to 0.3, P < 0.05), leader coaching behavior (B = 0.2, CI 95%: 0.1 to 0.3, P < 0.01) and nurses’ educational status (B = 0.8, 95% CI: − 0.1 to 1.6, P < 0.05).

Conclusions

Further research is needed to assess how interventions addressing patient safety culture and leader coaching behaviours might increase the intention to report errors.

Whistleblowing over patient safety and care quality: a review of the literature

PURPOSE

The purpose of this paper is to review existing research on whistleblowing in healthcare in order to develop an evidence base for policy and research.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

A narrative review, based on systematic literature protocols developed within the management field.

FINDINGS

The authors identify valuable insights on the factors that influence healthcare whistleblowing, and how organizations respond, but also substantial gaps in the coverage of the literature, which is overly focused on nursing, has been largely carried out in the UK and Australia, and concentrates on the earlier stages of the whistleblowing process.

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS

The review identifies gaps in the literature on whistleblowing in healthcare, but also draws attention to an unhelpful lack of connection with the much larger mainstream literature on whistleblowing.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Despite the limitations to the existing literature important implications for practice can be identified, including enhancing employees' sense of security and providing ethics training.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

This paper provides a platform for future research on whistleblowing in healthcare, at a time when policymakers are increasingly aware of its role in ensuring patient safety and care quality.

Impact of Patient Safety Culture on Missed Nursing Care and Adverse Patient Events

BACKGROUND

A strong patient safety culture (PSC) may be associated with improved patient outcomes in hospitals. The mechanism that explains this relationship is underexplored; missed nursing care may be an important link.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to describe relationships among PSC, missed nursing care, and 4 types of adverse patient events.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study employed primary survey data from 311 nurses from 29 units in 5 hospitals and secondary adverse event data from those same units. Analyses include analysis of variance and regression models.

RESULTS

Missed nursing care was reported to occur at an occasional level (M = 3.44, SD = 0.24) across all 29 units. The PSC dimensions explained up to 30% of the variance in missed nursing care, 26% of quality of care concerns, and 15% of vascular access device events. Missed care was associated with falls (P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Prioritized actions to enhance PSC should be taken to reduce missed nursing care and adverse patient outcomes.

Cross-Sectional Study on Patient Safety Culture, Patient Safety Competency, and Adverse Events

This study aims to examine the associations between nurses’ perceptions of patient safety culture, patient safety competency, and adverse events. Using convenience sampling, we conducted a cross-sectional study from February to May 2018 in two university hospitals. Furthermore, we performed multiple logistic regression to examine associations between patient safety culture, patient safety competency, and adverse events. Higher mean scores for “communication openness” in patient safety culture were significantly correlated with lower rates for pressure ulcers and falls; furthermore, higher mean scores for “working in teams with other health professionals” in patient safety competency were significantly correlated with reductions in ventilator-associated pneumonia. We recommend that a well-structured hospital culture emphasizing patient safety and continuation of in-service education programs for nurses to provide high-quality, clinically safe care is required. Moreover, further research is required to identify interventions to improve patient safety culture and competency and reduce the occurrence of adverse events.

Understanding the knowledge gaps in whistleblowing and speaking up in health care: narrative reviews of the research literature and formal inquiries, a legal analysis and stakeholder interviews

Background

There is compelling evidence to suggest that some (or even many) NHS staff feel unable to speak up, and that even when they do, their organisation may respond inappropriately.

Objectives

The specific project objectives were (1) to explore the academic and grey literature on whistleblowing and related concepts, identifying the key theoretical frameworks that can inform an understanding of whistleblowing; (2) to synthesise the empirical evidence about the processes that facilitate or impede employees raising concerns; (3) to examine the legal framework(s) underpinning whistleblowing; (4) to distil the lessons for whistleblowing policies from the findings of Inquiries into failings of NHS care; (5) to ascertain the views of stakeholders about the development of whistleblowing policies; and (6) to develop practical guidance for future policy-making in this area.

Methods

The study comprised four distinct but interlocking strands: (1) a series of narrative literature reviews, (2) an analysis of the legal issues related to whistleblowing, (3) a review of formal Inquiries related to previous failings of NHS care and (4) interviews with key informants.

Results

Policy prescriptions often conceive the issue of raising concerns as a simple choice between deciding to ‘blow the whistle’ and remaining silent. Yet research suggests that health-care professionals may raise concerns internally within the organisation in more informal ways before utilising whistleblowing processes. Potential areas for development here include the oversight of whistleblowing from an independent agency; early-stage protection for whistleblowers; an examination of the role of incentives in encouraging whistleblowing; and improvements to criminal law to protect whistleblowers. Perhaps surprisingly, there is little discussion of, or recommendations concerning, whistleblowing across the previous NHS Inquiry reports.

Limitations

Although every effort was made to capture all relevant papers and documents in the various reviews using comprehensive search strategies, some may have been missed as indexing in this area is challenging. We interviewed only a small number of people in the key informant interviews, and our findings may have been different if we had included a larger sample or informants with different roles and responsibilities.

Conclusions

Current policy prescriptions that seek to develop better whistleblowing policies and nurture open reporting cultures are in need of more evidence. Although we set out a wide range of issues, it is beyond our remit to convert these concerns into specific recommendations: that is a process that needs to be led from elsewhere, and in partnership with the service. There is also still much to learn regarding this important area of health policy, and we have highlighted a number of important gaps in knowledge that are in need of more sustained research.

Future work

A key area for future research is to explore whistleblowing as an unfolding, situated and interactional process and not just a one-off act by an identifiable whistleblower. In particular, we need more evidence and insights into the tendency for senior managers not to hear, accept or act on concerns about care raised by employees.

Funding

The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

Patient safety during radiological examinations: a nationwide survey of residency training hospitals in Taiwan

OBJECTIVES

Variations in radiological examination procedures and patient load lead to variations in standards of care related to patient safety and healthcare quality. To understand the status of safety measures to protect patients undergoing radiological examinations at residency training hospitals in Taiwan, a follow-up survey evaluating the full spectrum of diagnostic radiology procedures was conducted.

DESIGN

Questionnaires covering 12 patient safety-related themes throughout the examination procedures were mailed to the departments of diagnostic radiology with residency training programmes in 19 medical centres (with >500 beds) and 17 smaller local institutions in Taiwan. After receiving the responses, all themes in 2014 were compared between medical centres and local institutions by using χ(2) or 2-sample t-tests.

PARTICIPANTS

Radiology Directors or Technology Chiefs of medical centres and local institutions in Taiwan participated in this survey by completing and returning the questionnaires.

RESULTS

The response rates of medical centres and local institutions were 95% and 100%, respectively. As indicated, large medical centres carried out more frequent clinically ordered, radiologist-guided patient education to prepare patients for specific examinations (CT, 28% vs 6%; special procedures, 78% vs 44%) and incident review and analysis (89% vs 47%); however, they required significantly longer access time for MRI examinations (7.00±29.50 vs 3.50±3.50 days), had more yearly incidents of large-volume contrast-medium extravasation (2.75±1.00 vs 1.00±0.75 cases) and blank radiographs (41% vs 8%), lower monthly rates of suboptimal (but interpretable) radiographs (0.00±0.01% vs 0.64±1.84%) and high-risk reminder reporting (0.01±0.16% vs 1.00±1.75%) than local institutions.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study elucidates the status of patient safety in diagnostic radiology in Taiwan, thereby providing helpful information to improve patient safety guidelines needed for medical imaging in the future.