The perceived incidence rate and patient safety attitudes of health care professionals at Davao Medical School Foundation Hospital

Safety culture is term used to determine the commitment, style and proficiency of an organization's health safety management. Medical errors increase morbidity, causes significant complications, increase hospital costs and prolongs hospital stays for the patient.OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the perceived incidence rate and the patient safety attitudes of health care professionals at the Davao Medical School Foundation Hospital (DMSFH)METHODOLOGY: The study involved the health care professionals of DMSFH. The safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ)was used and measured on a 5-point Likert scale for the following domains, Teamwork, Safety Climate, Job Satisfaction, Stress Recognition, Perceptions of Management, Working Conditions, Collaboration and Communication. The last part of the survey questionnaire determines the perceived incidence rate. It is composed of three items: accidents, near-misses and errors and were rated on a 6-point Likert scale.RESULTS: Among the 145 respondents, 88.96% were nurses, 1.38% doctors and 9.66% pharmacists. The overall patient safety climate at the DMSFH was good with a mean rate of 3.5 ± 0.42. Perception of management has the lowest perceived rates with a mean of only 3.06 ±  0.21. In terms of mean perceived incident rates, errors had the highest mean rates of 3.27 ± 1.09. Overall, perceived incidence rates are negatively, albeit weakly, correlated with the DMSFH safety climate.CONCLUSION: The perceived incidence rates are significantly affected by the patient safety measures that are practiced by the health care professionals.

Assessing Safety Attitudes among Healthcare Providers after a Hospital-Wide High-Risk Patient Care Program

PURPOSE: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is commonly performed in high-risk, high intensity situations and is therefore a good procedure around which to develop and implement safety culture strategies in the hospital. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a hospital-wide quality improvement program on the management of sudden cardiac arrests by assessing healthcare providers' attitudes towards patient safety. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was designed as a prospective cohort study at a single academic medical center. The comprehensive hospital-based safety program included steps to identify areas of hazard, partner units with the Resuscitation Committee, and to conduct a Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ evaluated 35 questions in seven domains to assess changes in patient safety culture by comparing the results before and after the hospital-wide high risk patient care improvement program. RESULTS: The response rates of the pre- and post-SAQ survey were 489 out of 1121 (43.6%) and 575 out of 1270 (45.3%), respectively. SAQ survey responses revealed significant improvement in all seven domains of the questionnaire (p-values of 0.006 and lower). In a subgroup analysis, doctors and nurses showed improvement in five domains. Both doctors and nurses did not show improvement in the "sharing information" domain. CONCLUSION: A hospital-wide quality improvement program for high-risk, high reliability patient care involving CPR care was shown to be associated with a change in healthcare providers' attitudes towards patient safety. Through an immersive and active program on CPR care, change in healthcare providers' attitudes towards patient safety was initiated.