An Intervention to Optimize Attitudes Toward Adverse Events Reporting Among Tunisian Critical Care Nurses

This study aimed at evaluating the impact of a combined-strategies intervention on ICUs nurses' attitudes toward AE reporting.

We conducted a quasi-experimental study from January to October 2020 which consisted of an intervention to improve attitudes toward incident reporting among nurses working in 10 intensive care units at a university hospital using the Reporting of Clinical Adverse Events Scale. The intervention consisted of a 2-hour educational presentation for nurse unit managers and a 30-minute in-units educational training for intensive care unit nurses, which encompassed technical aspects of reporting, the reporting process, a nonpunitive environment, and the importance of submitting reports. The educational presentation was reinforced with distributing posters and brochures and biweekly patient safety rounds that inquired about events, reinforced education, and provided follow-up to incident reports.

All dimensions were significantly improved. Score increased from 27.4% to 42.1% ( P < 0.01) for perceived blame, from 35.2% to 52.5% for perceived criteria for identifying events that should be reported ( P < 0.01), from 34.3% to 46% for perceptions of colleagues' expectations ( P = 0.04), from 37.1% to 51.4% for perceived benefits of reporting ( P = 0.01), and from 29.2% to 51.4% for perceived clarity of reporting procedures ( P < 0.01).

Interventions using a combination of several strategies such as training, safety round, and messaging can be effective and should be considered by hospitals attempting to increase adverse events reporting. Results reinforce the assumption that a nonpunitive environment and the resulting feeling of safety and reassurance are crucial to foster the submission of reports.