Measuring the safety climate in an Australian emergency department
- Authors: Connell, Clifford , Cooper, Simon J. , Endacott, Ruth
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Emergency Nursing Vol. 58, no. (2021), p.
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- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: There are numerous intricate human, system and cultural factors that can impact upon the safe and effective implementation of patient safety systems (e.g. rapid response systems). Safety climate is one of these factors and is a measure of frontline healthcare workers’ shared perceptions, behaviours, beliefs and attitudes towards the organisation's culture of safety. Safety climate scores are also associated with the frequency of errors and adverse events in the healthcare setting. However, there is little evidence regarding the relationships between attitudes to patient safety and staff characteristics such as emergency care expertise and experience. The aims of this study were to measure perceptions of the safety climate in an Australian metropolitan Emergency Department and examine relationships between safety climate perceptions and staff characteristics. Methods: The Victorian Managed Insurance Authority Safety Climate Survey was administered to all doctors (n = 44) and nurses (n = 119) at an Australian emergency department. Results: Completed surveys were received from 127 (78%) respondents, 25 (52%) doctors and 100 (84%) nurses. Reliability analysis showed very good internal consistency of all 43-items of the survey (α = 0.94). With the exception of stress recognition, nurses rated the organisation's commitment to patient safety higher than doctors in all remaining attitudinal domains (p < 0.05). Both groups acknowledge that fatigue, increased workload and stress recognition negatively impacts upon patient safety. There was a significant trend for declining safety climate ratings related to participants’ clinical competence level and experience across all domains except stress recognition (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The Safety Climate Survey appears to be a reliable measure of patient safety climate for use in Emergency Departments. Emergency doctors and nurses did not perceive there to be a strong organisational commitment to patient safety in an Australian Emergency Department. Emergency Departments can provide a safer environment through genuine commitment to safety culture improvement which capitalises on the insights, intrinsic strengths and behaviours characteristic of the ED team's expertise and experience. This kind of commitment can positively influence the effectiveness of actions taken to minimise risk to patient safety and improve ED staff job satisfaction and effectiveness. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd
Practice priorities for acute care nursing : a Delphi study
- Authors: Connell, Clifford , Plummer, Virginia , Crawford, Kimberley , Endacott, Ruth , Foley, Pieternella , Griffiths, Debra , Innes, Kelli , Schwerdtle, Patricia , Walker, Lorraine , Morphet, Julia
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Clinical Nursing Vol. 29, no. 13-14 (2020), p. 2615-2625
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Aims and objectives: To describe the risk and frequency of challenges in acute care nursing, and the practice priorities in Australian hospital wards based upon expert consensus. Background: Health care is facing increasing demands that are negatively impacting upon the safety and quality of nursing care. Design: Delphi Method. Method: A three-round electronic Delphi method was used to collect and synthesise expert consensus opinion of 30 participants in Rounds One and Two of the survey, and 12 participants in Round Three. The study was carried out from July to December 2016. This study complied with the STROBE checklist. Results: High patient acuity or complexity, as well as inadequate bed space on wards, are “very high” risks that occur “often” and “very often,” respectively. The pressure to admit patients, delayed medical review and patient boarding are all “high” risks that occur “often.” Though only occurring “sometimes,” inadequate numbers and skill mix of staff, suboptimal communication and early or inappropriate discharge all pose a “very high” risk to patient care. Conclusion: The key practice priorities for nurse managers should include the design, implementation and evaluation of sustainable system-wide frameworks, processes and models of care that address patient boarding, communication and discharge processes, job satisfaction, staffing numbers and expertise. Relevance to clinical practice: This study provides a description of the challenges that face acute care nursing in the provision of safe and high-quality care. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd