Patient Safety Culture in Radiodiagnosis Units: A Survey of Two Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

Introduction: Medical errors are inevitable adverse events in the field of health care, and the establishment of a safety culture could potentially improve patient safety. The present study aimed to evaluate the patient safety culture in the radiodiagnosis units of two tertiary centers in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on the health workers in the radiodiagnosis units of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital in Nnewi and University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Enugu, Nigeria during May-July 2017. Data collection tool was the hospital survey on patient safety culture (HSOPSC), a validated questionnaire by the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ). Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 17. Results:Response rate in the HSOPSC was 70%. In total, 55.4% of the respondents were radiographers, and 41.1% rated patient safety culture as favorable. The highest range of the reported events was 3-5 (28.6%). The composite with the highest positive response was ‘teamwork within units’ (81.3%), while the dimension of ‘events reported’ had the lowest frequency. Results of t-test indicated no significant association between the positive responses in the present study and benchmark of AHRQ. Conclusion: According to the results, the patient safety culture in the studied tertiary institutions was barely above average. Therefore, it is recommended that improvements be made in patient safety culture through emphasis on the dimensions of ‘staffing’, ‘non-punitive response to error’, ‘communication openness’, and ‘frequency of events reported’.

Keywords:

Health Workers , Nigeria , Patient Safety Culture , Radiodiagnosis