Awareness of the culture of patient safety among medical staff in neurosurgery departments from Moldova

Abstract

Introduction. To improve outcomes for patients and prevent avoidable surgical errors, neurosurgeons must change the culture of patient safety. The purpose of the study was to explore the perception of Patient Safety Culture (PSC) and the factors influencing it among the staff in the neurosurgical departments from Republic of Moldova. Material and methods. A cross sectional study was conducted in neurosurgical departments using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC). Descriptive statistics were carried out, comprised the Cronbach “α” coefficient, frequency of positive answers (PPRs), level of minimum and maximum of 95% confidential interval, F. Galton correlation coefficient, Kendall rank coefficient, Harrington scale. Results. Medical staff from neurosurgical departments from five hospitals voluntarily participated in the study n=345. Most of the respondents rated the patient’s safety grade as “excellent” and “very good”. The value of the frequency of positive responses to the dimensions of the survey varies between 37.3% (CI 95% [34.8-39.9]) (staffing) and 85.0% (CI.95% [83.1-86.9]) (teamwork within units). The dimensions with the highest score of the PPRs stand out: „teamwork within units”, „organizational learning- continuous improvement” and „supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting patient safety”. Analyzing the effect of the influence of patient safety culture factors on the degree of patient safety appreciated by the staff, we notice that the dimensions with the greatest influence are “Feedback and Communication About Error”, “Teamwork Across Units”, “Management Support for Patient Safety”, “Handoffs and transitions”, “Communication openness”. We found significant correlations among patient safety culture composites with the degree of patient safety with differences in the strength of the correlation. Conclusions. The results reflected the positive attitude of the staff towards most composites of the patient safety culture. The study made it possible to highlight the strong and vulnerable points of the patient safety culture and the factors influencing the patient safety degree in neurosurgical departments from Moldova.