Comparison of Perceptions About Patient Safety Culture Between Physicians and Nurses in Public Hospitals in Vietnam

Abstract

Introduction Patient safety culture (PSC) is a vital component in ensuring high-quality and safe patient care. Assessment of physicians’ and nurses’ perceptions of existing hospital PSC is the first step to promoting PSC. This paper is aimed to assess physicians’ and nurses’ perceptions of PSC in 5 public general hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam. Methods This cross-sectional study surveyed 410 physicians and 824 nurses utilizing the validated Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture in an online format. Results The composite positive physician’s perception of PSC varied from 47.8 to 89.6% with the lowest composite score of patient safety for “staffing” (47.8%) and the highest composite score for “teamwork within units” (89.6%). The composite positive responses for perception among nurses varied from 51.3 to 94.2% with the lowest composite score of patient safety for “staffing” (51.3%) and the highest composite score for “teamwork within units” (94.2%). Conclusion The mean scores for “supervisor/manager expectations”; “staffing”, “management support for patient safety”, “teamwork across units”, “handoffs and transitions” among nurses were significantly higher than that among physicians (p<0.05). About two-thirds of physicians and nurses reported no event in the past 12 months (62.8 and 71.7%, respectively). The nurses reported significantly higher patient grades (every good and excellent) than physicians (75% vs 67.1%, p <0.001). Hospitals could develop and implement intervention programs to improve patient safety, including providing interventions on teamwork and communication, encouraging staff to notify incidents, and avoiding punitive responses.

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“… 3 This inconsistency might be caused by the lack of a PSC in various age groups, so implementing a programme on the concept’s culture could raise PSC levels across age groups. The PSC score of 58% for nurses in this study, which is higher than that of medical doctors and other medical fraternities, is consistent with descriptions from other parts of the world (Vietnam), 20 where the average scores for the PSC components such as ‘staffing’, ‘management support for patient safety’, ‘teamwork across units’, and ‘handoffs and transitions’ were considerably higher among nurses than among physicians. 20 Such an outcome may be attributed to the awareness of this culture in the nursing fraternity.…”