Associations between safety perceptions and medical error reporting among neonatal intensive care unit staff

Critically ill neonates are particularly susceptible to medical errors; however, few studies have evaluated NICU safety climate in the context of medical error reporting. This study aims to identify the association between perceptions of safety and culture among NICU staff with medical error reporting behaviours.

This study used a convenience sample of 79 NICU staff members (38 Nurses and 41 Respiratory Therapists). Questionnaires consisted of demographic factors (years of experience, sex and education), the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) and hypothetical medical error reporting scenarios (categorized into minor harm or major harm). The SAQ consists of six domains: job satisfaction, teamwork climate, safety climate, perceptions of management, working conditions and stress recognition. Scores ranged from 0-5, with a 5 indicating a more positive perception. Logistic regression was used to determine statistically significant predictors for each individual harm scenario (odds of being very likely/likely to report vs. all other responses).

Among those who completed the study, approximately 84.8% were female. Safety attitude domain scores were similar for both NICU respiratory therapists and nurses across all domains except for job satisfaction and stress. Respiratory therapists reported higher levels of job satisfaction compared to nurses (24 vs. 23, respectively, p = 0.01). However, nurses reported higher levels of stress management compared to respiratory therapists (12 vs. 9, respectively, p < 0.01). While we did not find a significant association between safety attitudes and hypothetical medical error reporting, NICU staff overall were more likely to report major medical errors compared to minor medical errors.

This study suggests that safety climate may not play a significant role in promoting medical error reporting in the NICU setting.

Interventions aimed at increasing medical error reporting should also incorporate established employees rather than targeting new employees only.