Assessing Resident Safety Culture in Six Nursing Homes in Belgium

Abstract

Objectives: The primary aim was to measure resident safety culture in six nursing homes in northern Belgium (Flanders). In addition, differences in safety culture perceptions between professions were also examined. Finally, results of the present study were compared with the Nursing Home Comparative Database from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (USA).Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by administering the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture in six nursing homes in Belgium (Flanders). Each nursing home has 92 to 170 licensed nursing home beds. Data collection occurred between December 2016 and January 2017.Results: Highest mean scores were found for "feedback and communication about incidents" (mean [SD] = 4.20 [0.58]), "overall perceptions of resident safety" (mean [SD] = 4.07 [0.52]), and "supervisor expectations and actions promoting resident safety" (mean [SD] = 4.04 [0.70]). The lowest mean score was found for "staffing" (mean [SD] = 2.99 [0.61]). In addition, managers/supervisors scored significantly higher on all resident safety dimensions, with the exception of the dimensions "teamwork" and "supervisor expectations and actions promoting resident safety." Finally, the present study scored higher on the dimensions "teamwork," "nonpunitive response to mistakes," "handoffs," "feedback and communication about incidents," and "communication openness" than the benchmarking data from the Nursing Home Comparative Database.Conclusions: More work is necessary to improve the safety of resident care in nursing homes, especially regarding staffing issues and turnover rates. The present research findings serve to shine a light on an oftenoverlooked patient population and emphasize the need to develop improvement strategies for preventing resident safety incidents in nursing homes.

Patient safety culture and obstacles to adverse event reporting in nursing homes

“…and 'compliance with procedures' dimensions are the priority areas to be improved in nursing homes, as they had the lowest scores and the lowest PRRs. A similar situation was found in other countries, such as the USA (Smith et al, 2018), Belgium (Desmedt et al, 2018) and Norway (Ree & Wiig, 2019). The majority of staff are reported to be under-educated, lack experience and are only temporarily employed, which was confirmed in a similar study (Yang et al, 2019).…”

“…The majority of the literature on patient safety culture has focused on hospital settings, with relatively few studies conducted in nursing homes (Gartshore et al., 2017; Weaver et al., 2013). Quantitative surveys have been used in most studies conducted in the long‐term care facilities (Abusalem et al., 2019) or nursing homes (Desmedt, Petrovic, Beuckelaere, & Vandijck, 2018; Lin, Tseng, Hsu, Chiang, & Tseng, 2017; Ree & Wiig, 2019; Titlestad, Haugstvedt, Igland, & Graue, 2018). A few studies have reported on the relationship between patient safety culture and adverse events in nursing homes (Gartshore et al., 2017; Weaver et al., 2013).…”

COVID-19 Preparedness and Perceived Safety in 138 Nursing Homes in Southern Portugal: A Cross-sectional Survey-based Study in the Initial Phases of the Pandemic

“…Our findings highlight fragile and moderate areas on the resident safety culture of nursing homes, such as compliance with procedures, nonpunitive response to mistakes, and staffing. In our sample, the composite average positive percent for compliance with procedures (51%) and nonpunitive response to mistakes (55%) were lower than those for nursing homes in Belgium (50% and 61%) [47] and Norway (62% and 71%) [48]. Conversely, the composite average positive percent for staff was greater in our sample (60%) relative to those nursing homes in Belgium (38%) and Norwegian (44%) studies.…”

“…Conversely, the composite average positive percent for staff was greater in our sample (60%) relative to those nursing homes in Belgium (38%) and Norwegian (44%) studies. In addition, top average positive composites in our sample -teamwork (78%) and, training and skills (70%) -were greater than those reported in [47] (76% and 65%) and [48] (68% and 51%). These indicators could be used to benchmark and steer where nursing home improvement initiatives are needed the most.…”

A Cultura de Segurança em Estruturas Residenciais para Pessoas Idosas

“…Nos últimos anos houve um grande desenvolvimento de estudos acerca da CSP nas ERPI (Gartshore, Waring & Timmons, 2017). Impulsionados pelos EUA, outros países europeus e asiáticos têm desenvolvido estudos que permitem extrair uma razoável perspetiva no âmbito a CSP nas estruturas para pessoas idosas (Bondevik, Hofoss, Husebø & Deilkås, 2017;Santos, 2015;Park, Hong, Lim & Lee, 2015;He et al, 2020;Desmedt, Petrovic, Beuckelaere & Vandijck, 2018).…”