Benchmarking the post-accreditation patient safety culture at King Abdulaziz University Hospital

Accreditation is an internationally recognized evaluation process used to assess, promote, and guarantee efficient and effective patient care and safety. Saudi Arabia is one of the first countries in the eastern Mediterranean region to implement health care accreditation standards. This study provides valuable information pertaining to the impact of accreditation in the unique multicultural, multilingual competitive environment at King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Saudi Arabia. The objective of this study was to perform an unbiased assessment of the impact of accreditation on patient safety culture. Cross-sectional retrospective and prospective study post-accreditation at King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2009. A total of 870 registered nurses from eight different cultural backgrounds working at 22 hospital units were given electronic access to the survey. A 5-point Likert scale was used, ranging from 1 for [Strongly disagree] to 5 for [Strongly agree]. The survey results were matched with the international benchmarks from the hospital survey on patient safety culture, 2005. A total of 605 nurses answered the survey questionnaire. The comparison between the percentages of nurses at King Abdulaziz University Hospital [KAUH] and those at international hospitals who answered [Agree] and [Strongly agree] showed a post-accreditation improved perception of the culture of patient safety. Accreditation has an overall statistically significant improvement in the perception of the culture of patient safety

Career counseling activities and choice of specialties among medical interns

To identify the specialties chosen by medical interns and factors influencing their choices during academic year of 2009. King Abdulaziz University Hospital. Questionnaire study. A questionnaire adopted from the American Graduate Council was distributed to 250 medical interns. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16 [2005]. One hundred and fifty-one questionnaires were completed with a response rate of 60%. Hundred and thirteen [75%] of students are planning to become certified in one of the different subspecialties, see figure 1. Seventeen [11.3%] favored internal medicine followed by anesthesia, 11 [7.3%]. Pathology, cardiac surgery, dermatology, general surgery and occupational medicine ranked third, 10 [6.7%], see figure 2. Plastic and orthopedic surgeries were not among their interest.Eighteen [12%] had been engaged in in-house electives, 14 [9.3%] had accessed the websites; the two had been found the most useful tools in helping students in their specialty choices. Career planning programs, careers availability on medicine websites, group presentations, career planning workshops and courses were not considered by students while choosing their career mainly due to unavailability, see table 1. Personal interest was the most important factor which had strongly influenced students' specialty choices, 109 [73%], see table 2. Family expectations and the length of residency training programs had minor influence. The lack of physicians in some specialties where should be addressed. Establishing a career advising committee at KAU is advised. This committee should focus on medical students during their final clinical years and during internship rotations putting in perspective the national health problems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia