Evaluation of patient safety culture among Malaysian retail pharmacists: results of a self-reported survey

Abstract

BackgroundPatient safety is a major public health issue, and the knowledge, skills, and experience of health professionals are very much essential for improving patient safety. Patient safety and medication error are very much associated. Pharmacists play a significant role in patient safety. The function of pharmacists in the medication use process is very different from medical and nursing colleagues. Medication dispensing accuracy is a vital element to ensure the safety and quality of medication use.ObjectiveTo evaluate the attitude and perception of the pharmacist toward patient safety in retail pharmacies setup in Malaysia.MethodsA Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture questionnaire was used to assess patient safety culture, developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the convenience sampling method was adopted.ResultsThe overall positive response rate ranged from 31.20% to 87.43%, and the average positive response rate was found to be 67%. Among all the eleven domains pertaining to patient safety culture, the scores of “staff training and skills” were less. Communication openness, and patient counseling are common, but not practiced regularly in the Malaysian retail pharmacy setup compared with those in USA. The overall perception of patient safety of an acceptable level in the current retail pharmacy setup.ConclusionThe study revealed that staff training, skills, communication in patient counseling, and communication across shifts and about mistakes are less in current retail pharmacy setup. The overall perception of patient safety should be improved by educating the pharmacists about the significance and essential of patient safety.

Patient safety practices among community pharmacists in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

“…The average PRR for the patient safety culture (74.7%) in the Abu Dhabi Emirate is more than that in previous studies performed in Taiwan, China, Malaysia and the USA . The result suggested that the significance of the support of the values of patient safety in the community pharmacy practice is realised by the community pharmacists in Abu Dhabi.…”

“…As a part of healthcare providing system, community pharmacies continually exert great efforts in order to improve safety and quality, and there is an increasing recognition of the value of establishing a culture of patient safety . In developing countries, medical practitioners are the only personnel who have the legal right of drug prescription . However, pharmacists play a significant role in prescription screening and communication with patients to minimise the risk of medication error while increasing patient safety .…”

“…In developing countries, medical practitioners are the only personnel who have the legal right of drug prescription . However, pharmacists play a significant role in prescription screening and communication with patients to minimise the risk of medication error while increasing patient safety . Nevertheless, errors can be made during prescription screening also.…”

“…For instance, pharmacists may feel rushed when screening through prescriptions during peak hours, or important prescription information may not be exchanged across shifts. Hence, these may increase the risk of medication, or even a dispensing error, leading to patient harm …”

Use of patient safety culture instruments in operating rooms: A systematic literature review

“…As there was interval between the study implementation and literature publication, we took the survey period as the time when the questionnaire was used, rather than when the literature was published. The initial version of SAQ was developed in 2002 by Bryan Sexton, Eric Thomas, and Bob Helm Reich with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the USA, the psychometric properties was reported in 2006 . There were 16 studies that reported the survey period, among which three surveys were performed before 2006, ranging from 2002 to 2006.…”