Nurse qualifications and perceptions of patient safety and quality of care in South Africa

Abstract

A plethora of research links professional nurses' qualifications to patient outcomes. Also, research has shown that reports by nurses on the quality of care correspond with process or outcome measures of quality in a hospital. New to the debate is whether professional nurses' qualifications impact on their perceptions of patient safety and quality of care. This research aims to investigate professional nurses' perceptions of patient safety and quality of care in South Africa, and the relationship between these perceptions and professional nurses' qualifications. A cross-sectional survey of 1117 professional nurses from medical and surgical units of 55 private and 7 public hospitals was conducted. Significant problems with regard to nurse-perceived patient safety and quality of care were identified, while adverse incidents in patients and professional nurses were underreported. Qualifications had no correlation with perceptions of patient safety and quality of care, although perceptions may serve as a valid indicator of patient outcomes. Creating an organizational culture that is committed to patient safety and encourages the sharing of adverse incidents will contribute to patient safety and quality of care in hospitals.

Safe Patient Care: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Among ICU Nurses

“…Nurses apply their knowledge, skills and experience to care for the various and changing needs of patients 13 . The quality of care by nurse correspond with outcome measures of quality in a hospital 14 .The present study also illustrates that nurses have a good knowledge and practice regarding safe patient care are and their attitude is positive towards safe patient are. This findings contradict the findings of a study 9 that indicated a quite a low level of safety knowledge among health care professionals.…”

Nurse managers’ experiences in continuous quality improvement in resource‐poor healthcare settings

“…The findings in this study are in line with studies from other countries that reported similar commitments from the government and executive management, and their continued role in the initiation, support, and sustainability of quality improvement in priority areas in healthcare in these countries (Hampe, ; Yeh & Lai, ). The role of good governance is an enabling structure for nurse managers to undertake CQI – the absence of which is equated to a lack of organizational structure, policies, procedures, and adequate resources, education, and training to support CQI (Blignaut et al ., ).…”

Improving patient safety culture in Saudi Arabia (2012–2015): trending, improvement and benchmarking

“…Evidence links hospital cultures that foster sharing and reporting of errors to better patient safety and quality of care [ 23 ]. This should go hand in hand with addressing issues such as poor communication, lack of visible leadership, poor teamwork, lack of reporting systems, inadequate analysis of adverse events and inadequate staff knowledge about safety [ 4 ].…”