Analysis of patient safety incident reporting system as an indicator of quality nursing in critical care units in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Background: Patient Safety Incidents occur frequently in critical care units, contribute to patient harm, compromise quality of patient care and increase healthcare costs. It is essential that Patient Safety Incidents in critical care units are continually measured to plan for quality improvement interventions.Aim: To analyse Patient Safety Incident reporting system, including the evidence of types, frequencies, and patient outcomes of reported incidents in critical care units.Setting: The study was conducted in the critical care units of ten hospitals of eThekwini district, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.Methods: A quantitative approach using a descriptive cross sectional survey was adopted to collect data from the registered nurses working in critical care units of randomly selected hospitals. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 270 registered nurses of which 224 (83%) returned completed questionnaires. A descriptive statistical analysis was initially conducted, then the Pearson Chi-square test was performed between the participating hospitals.Findings: One thousand and seventeen (n = 1017) incidents in ten hospitals were self-reported. Of these incidents, 18% (n = 70) were insignificant, 35% (n = 90) minor, 25% (n = 75) moderate, 12% (n = 32) major and 10% (n = 26) catastrophic. Patient Safety Incidents were classified into six categories: (a) Hospital-related incidents (42% [n = 416]); (b) Patient care-related incidents (30% [n = 310]); (c) (Death 12% [n = 124]); (d) Medication-related incidents, (7% [n = 75]); (e) Blood product-related incidents (5% [n = 51]) and (f) Procedure-related incidents (4% [n = 41]).Conclusion: This study's findings indicating 1017 Patient Safety Incidents of predominantly serious nature, (47% considering moderate, major and catastrophic) are a cause for concern

Challenges of quality improvement in the healthcare of South Africa post-apartheid: A critical review

There is overwhelming evidence that the quality of health care in South Africa has been compromised by various challenges that impact negatively on healthcare quality. Improvement in quality care means fewer errors, reduced delays in care delivery, improvement in efficiency, increased market share and lower cost. Decline in quality health care has caused the public to lose trust in the healthcare system in South Africa.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify challenges that are being incurred in practice that compromise quality in the healthcare sector, including strategies employed by government to improve the quality of health delivery.Method: Literature search included the following computer-assisted databases and bibliographies: Medline (Medical Literature Online), EBSCOhost, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Google, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect. Furthermore, websites were used to source policy documents of organisations such as the National Department of Health in South Africa and the World Health Organization.Results: Seventy-four articles were selected from 1366 retrieved. These articles quantify problems facing quality care delivery and strategies used to improve the healthcare system in South Africa.Conclusion: The findings revealed that there were many quality improvement programmes that had been initiated, adapted, modified and then tested but did not produce the required level of quality service delivery as desired. As a result, the Government of South Africa has a challenge to ensure that implementation of National Core Standards will deliver the desired health outcomes, because achieving a lasting quality improvement system in health care seems to be an arduous challenge