Background
The Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture (NHSOPS) questionnaire was developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), particularly as an intervention to raise staff awareness about patient safety issues. The main objective of the present study was to provide a validated French-language measure of the safety culture (SC) in nursing homes. Thus the aim was i) to carry out a transcultural adaptation into French of the NHSOPS questionnaire, ii) to assess its psychometric properties in a sample of professionals working in French EHPAD facilities and iii) to develop our own tool.
Methods
The study was carried out on volunteering professionals from 61 nursing homes (from January to March 2016). Two phases were conducted: an initial phase involving the translation and cultural adaptation of the questionnaire, and a second phase in which the psychometric properties of the questionnaire were assessed. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) with a maximum likelihood estimation method was used to evaluate the construct validity of the questionnaire. As the fit of the structure was not sufficient, an exploratory factor analysis using a principal axis factoring with an oblique rotation was then performed. Internal consistency was evaluated and we examined test-retest reliability using Intra-class Correlation Coefficients (ICC).
Results
During the initial phase, all items were retained and minor adjustments were made. The participation rate by professionals was 58.4%. The exploratory analysis led to the identification of seven dimensions: Teamwork, Staffing, Compliance with procedures, Handoffs, Feedback and communication about incidents, Supervisor expectations and actions promoting resident safety, Overall perceptions of resident safety and Organizational learning. The SEM confirmed the existence of the seven latent dimensions (CFI = 0.946; TLI = 0.933; SRMR = 0.059; RMSEA = 0.061); internal consistency was acceptable. ICC per item ranged from 0.19 to 0.88.
Conclusions
The results from this study were robust on seven dimensions. This French version is the first on Patient SC to have been applied to the medical-social sector caring for dependent elderly people in France. The NHSOPS questionnaire provides the opportunity to broach this subject. A national evaluation campaign should provide the opportunity to confirm or improve this measure.
Trial registration
NCT02908373
(September 21, 2016) «Retrospectively registered».
Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-019-4333-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Background
French Nursing Homes (NHs) are in the early stages of implementing their Risk Management (RM) approach. A regional structure, which was mandated to provide independent support in RM, designed a training package.
Objective
To study the impact of the RM training package on safety culture (SC) in NHs and drivers for improvement in SC scores.
Method and analysis
This randomised controlled study targeted French NHs. Inclusion criteria were voluntary participation, no external support provided on the topic of adverse incidents upstream of the project, and the commitment of top management to its implementation. The 61 NHs were randomly allocated to one of two groups: the first benefited from a training package; support was given to the second after the impact measurement. Seven dimensions of SC were measured, at an 18-month interval, using the validated Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture questionnaire (22 items), which was administered to all of the professionals working in NHs. Eleven variables were captured, relating to the structural profile of the NH, the choices of top management in terms of healthcare safety, and the implementation of the system. Further modelling identified predictive factors for changes in SC scores.
Results
95% of NHs completed both rounds of the questionnaire. The dimension Feedback and communication about incidents (SC = 85.4% before the intervention) significantly improved (+2.8%; p = 0.044). Improvement in the dimension Overall perceptions of resident safety–organizational learning was close to significant (+3.1%; p = 0.075). Drivers for improvement in scores were a pre-existing quality improvement approach, and a steering group that showed RM leadership.
Conclusions
The system appears to have improved several dimensions of SC. Our findings are all the more important given the current crisis in the healthcare sector.
Trial registration
Retrospectively registered as NCT02908373 (September 21, 2016).
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