Assessment of Patient Safety Culture in the Palestinian Hospital Pharmacies
Date
2011
Authors
وفاء جمال حسن الزغاري
Wafa Jamal Hassan Zaghari
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AL-Quds University
جامعة القدس
جامعة القدس
Abstract
Background: Patient safety culture assessment in pharmacies is increasing largely worldwide,
many tools that were used to assess patient safety culture at the hospital settings as a whole are
now adapted to be used for pharmacies. One of the most commonly used and rigorously
validated tools to measure patient safety culture is the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ).
The tool consists of 30 items that cover six safety culture domains.
The intention of this research is to map the patient safety culture in the Palestinian hospital
pharmacies, this will be achieved through measuring and analyzing the patient safety culture
domains there, understanding factors influencing safety culture and examine variations
between different hospital pharmacies. This assessment helps in determining safety culture
domains that are considered as areas of strength, and safety culture domains that are
considered as areas of weakness for each hospital pharmacy.
Mapping patient safety culture in hospital pharmacies will end up by directing each hospital
pharmacy to improve areas of weakness effectively and efficiently.
Purpose: To assess patient safety culture in the Palestinian hospital pharmacies, and to assess
the association of hospitals and respondents characteristics with patient safety culture.
Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. The English version of the SAQ was translated
and adapted to the Palestinian context. The survey was carried out in (28) Palestinian hospitals
in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. All pharmacist assistants, pharmacist, and clinical
pharmacists in these hospitals were targeted, estimated to 115 personnel.
Items mean and scale scores were calculated. Then a composite score equivalent to the
arithmetic mean of the scale scores were also calculated. In order to identify areas of strength
and areas for potential improvement, the percentages of positive responses for the survey
domains and items were calculated. Univariate analysis was used to test associations between
composite patient safety scores and different respondent and hospital characteristics.
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Findings: 73 persons participated in the study, response rate was 68.8%. Females were
66.7%, 51% were pharmacist or clinical pharmacist, and 84.7% were with experience ≥ 5
years in profession. Two SAQ domains, job satisfaction and working conditions, were
identified as areas of strength and received ≥75% of positive responses.
Patient safety level was graded as “accepted” by (50%) of the respondents and none gave their
pharmacy a “Poor” or “Failing” grade. Event reporting was very low, (66%) of the
respondents didn’t report any event in the past year.
In regard to the associations between safety culture domains scores with participants and
hospital characteristics, the association was statistically significant (P<0.05) in regard to
hospital ownership with the teamwork climate (P=0.02), perception of management (P=0.03),
job satisfaction (P=0.001), and working conditions (P=0.02) and all in favor of the private and
NGO hospitals. Participants working in hospitals sized <50 beds were more positive towards
perception of management climate than their counterparts in larger sized hospitals (P=0.031).
The overall safety score was significantly associated only with the hospital ownership
(P=0.002) in favor of the private and NGO hospitals.
No statistically significant associations were found between safety culture domains and the
participant’s age, gender, years of experience in profession and hospital, level of education,
working hours, and job title.
The safety culture domain scores varied largely among different hospital pharmacies. None of
the six domains were positive for four hospitals, twelve hospitals have negative total safety
score and the best result was having five positive safety domains and a positive total safety
score and this result was achieved only by two hospitals.
Conclusions: Safety culture assessment results revealed areas for potential improvement in
Palestinian hospital pharmacies. Hospitals need to formulate specific patient safety culture
interventions to address these weaknesses
Description
Keywords
العلوم الطبية المخبرية , رسالة ماجستير , دراسات عليا , Medical Laboratory science , Higher Studies , Master Thesis
Citation
Zaghari، Wafa Jamal. (2011). Assessment of Patient Safety Culture in the Palestinian
Hospital Pharmacies[A published thesis, Al-Quds University, Palestine].Al-Quds
University digital repository https://arab-scholars.com/8238c9