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Assessment of Patient Safety Culture in a Pediatric Department
Mohammed Alsabri1, Fiorella B Castillo1, Salome Wiredu2
1Pediatrics, Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, Brooklyn, USA.
Insights
This study assessed patient safety culture in pediatric departments and found low scores in non-punitive response to error and staffing. Improvements are needed to foster a culture of safety and continuous learning.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Patient Safety
- Organizational Culture
Background:
- Assessing patient safety culture is crucial for developing effective healthcare programs.
- High-quality healthcare delivery relies on a strong foundation of patient safety.
- Baseline assessments provide essential insights for targeted safety improvements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a baseline assessment of patient safety culture within pediatric settings.
- To identify factors influencing patient safety.
- To inform strategies for enhancing patient safety culture.
Main Methods:
- The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (PSC) questionnaire was administered.
- Data collected from pediatric departments and ambulatory practices at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center (BHMC).
- Analysis included 12 patient-safety dimensions, overall safety grade, and adverse event reporting.
Main Results:
- A 35.3% response rate was achieved with 136 surveys analyzed.
- Highest scores were in teamwork within units (78%) and supervisor/manager actions (71.2%).
- Lowest scores were in non-punitive response to error (35.9%) and staffing (38%).
Conclusions:
- Most composite measures, excluding teamwork, indicate a need for intervention.
- Improving patient safety culture requires addressing areas like non-punitive error response and staffing.
- Healthcare leaders must foster open communication, continuous learning, and reduce blame to build a robust safety culture.
Abstract:
Background An assessment of the prevalent culture needs to be the first step when building patient safety programs in healthcare organizations to achieve high-quality health care. Objective To conduct a baseline assessment of patient safety culture, to provide insight into the factors that contribute to patient safety, and to use the information to make improvements. Methods The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (PSC) questionnaire was conducted from October through December 2020 at the Brookdale Hospital Medical Center (BHMC) Pediatric departments (Pediatric Inpatient Unit, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit [NICU], Pediatric Intensive Care Unit [PICU], and Pediatric Emergency Department) and four community-based ambulatory pediatric practices (Brookdale Family Care Centers [BFCC]). The percentages of positive responses on the 12 patient-safety dimensions and the summation of PSC and two outcomes (overall patient safety grade and adverse events reported in the past year) were assessed. Factors associated with PSC aggregate score were analyzed. Results From the 385 emails that were sent, 136 surveys were considered for analysis. This gives us a response rate of 35.3%. Most of the participants were nurses (58%) with direct contact with patients (94.2%). Most respondents did not report any events (60.7%), whereas 30.3% reported 1-2 events in the past year. The patient safety composites with the highest positive scores were teamwork within units (78%), supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting patient safety (71.2%), and organizational learning--continuous improvement (66.8%). The composites with the lowest scores were non-punitive response to error (35.9%) and staffing (38%). Conclusions All of our composite measures, with the exception of teamwork within units, appear to be low, which means that all the other composite measures require interventions for improvement of overall safety culture. In order for healthcare leaders and policymakers to establish a culture of safety and improvement, they must create a climate of open communication, continuous learning, and eliminate the fear of blame and punitive feedback.
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