Collaborating with nurse leaders to develop patient safety practices

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety Research
• Organizational Development

Background:

• Patient safety is critical, often impacted by systemic failures.
• Leadership development is key to improving patient safety practices.
• Limited understanding exists on supporting frontline leaders in patient safety initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the patient safety development process undertaken by nursing leaders and directors.
• To evaluate the progress of selected development areas over six months.
• To understand nursing leaders' perspectives on participatory development.

Main Methods:

• Participatory action research engaged frontline nursing leaders and directors.
• Semi-structured group interviews (N=10) collected data post-action cycle.
• Content analysis was used for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Participatory development fostered collaboration and leader insight into patient safety systems.
• Development areas progressed variably; greatest gains were in areas with simple guidelines and high leader participation.
• High-reliability organization features were moderately evident; leaders found acting as change agents challenging.

Conclusions:

• Participatory methods effectively support leaders in advancing patient safety.
• Familiarity with methods and adequate facilitation are crucial for successful development.
• This research offers insights into enhancing leader effectiveness in patient safety and promoting high-reliability organizations.