Improving Reporting Culture Through Daily Safety Huddles

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Patient Safety Research
• Nursing Practice

Background:

• Lack of error reporting hinders learning and patient safety.
• An acute care unit in a children's hospital had low error reporting and patient safety culture scores.
• Existing benchmarks for error reporting and patient safety culture were not met.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement a Safety Huddle Intervention to improve error reporting.
• To enhance Survey for Patient Safety Culture (SOPS 1.0) scores related to reporting.

Main Methods:

• A Safety Huddle Intervention, guided by Marshall Ganz's Change through Public Narrative Framework, was developed.
• A scripted Safety Huddle was conducted daily for 6 weeks on the project unit.
• Nurses completed the SOPS 1.0 pre- and post-intervention; monthly error reporting was tracked.

Main Results:

• Error reporting by nurses significantly increased on the project unit during and after the intervention (P = .012).
• No significant differences in SOPS 1.0 items measuring reporting culture were observed.
• Communication openness improved on the project unit, but not on the comparison unit.

Conclusions:

• Safety Huddle Interventions can increase error reporting among nurses.
• These interventions have the potential to foster communication openness, thereby improving patient safety.
• Promoting conversation about errors is key to enhancing safety culture.