Intervention Study to Upgrade Patient Safety Practices in Pediatric Intensive Care Units of Cairo University Children Hospital

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization calls patient safety “an endemic concern.” Keeping patients safe is viewed as a global public health problem and a human rights issue. An environment where safety culture prevails is considered the biggest obstacle to improve patient safety. Proactive efforts to identify, prevent, and eliminate errors have the potential to significantly improve safety. Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is high-hazard and -risk environments. AIM: The aim of this study is to enhance compliance to patient safety practices within the general PICUs in Cairo University Children’s Hospital. METHODS: This is a pretest-posttest interventional study. A tailored intervention after the baseline assessment was designed and implemented followed by reassessment. All physicians and nurses present in the general PICUs who were available and consented participated in the study. A questionnaire for knowledge and attitude and a checklist for practice assessment of the participants were used. RESULTS: The median age of the participants was 30 years and interquartile range (28–40). There was a statistically significant difference between those who received patient safety training and those who did not in patient safety knowledge. The median knowledge score increased significantly after the intervention. Regarding the attitude of the studied personnel toward their perception of patient safety culture’s dimensions before and after the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference in some dimensions and a statistically significant improvement in some others. CONCLUSION: The strategies based on patient safety awareness-raising among health-care providers together with commitment and enthusiasm among senior leadership in the hospital can potentially improve compliance with practice and consequently lead to better patient safety.