Relationship between patient safety culture and patient experience in hospital settings: a scoping review protocol

Abstract

IntroductionHospitals commonly examine patient safety culture and other quality indicators to evaluate and improve performance in relation to quality and safety. A growing body of research has separately examined relationships between patient safety culture and patient experience on clinical outcomes and other quality indicators. However, there is a knowledge gap regarding the relationship between these two important domains. This article describes the protocol for a scoping review of published literature examining the relationship between patient safety culture and patient experience in hospital settings. The scoping review will provide an overview of research into the relationship between patient safety culture and patient experience in hospital contexts, map key concepts underpinning these domains and identify research gaps for further study.Methods and analysisThe scoping review will be conducted using the five stages of Arksey and O’Malley’s framework: identify the research question; identify relevant studies; study selection; chart data; and collate, summarise and report the results. The inclusion criteria will be applied using the Population, Concept and Context Framework. Searches will be conducted in the CINAHL, Cochrane Library, ProQuest, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus and SciELO databases, without applying date range limits. Hand-searching of grey literature will also be performed to find relevant, non-indexed literature. Data will be extracted using a standardised data extraction form developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. Both descriptive and thematic analyses will be undertaken to scope key concepts within the body of reviewed literature.Ethics and disseminationThis type of study does not require an ethics review. The results will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at conferences.

Development and Validation of the Veterans Health Administration Patient Safety Culture Survey

“…Future work should consider examining the sensitivity of the measure to reflect meaningful differences in workgroup and facility-level psychometric properties along with repeated assessments over time to understand the stability of the measure, especially because annual surveys are planned within VHA. Furthermore, while criterion validation focused on measures contained within the survey, broadening the approach to include patient safety indicators, such as hospital-acquired infections, collected through administrative data could further support to the criterion validity 41 . A mixed-methods approach would aid understanding variations and nuances in how respondents perceive PSC relative to the items included on the survey.…”

“…Furthermore, while criterion validation focused on measures contained within the survey, broadening the approach to include patient safety indicators, such as hospital-acquired infections, collected through administrative data could further support to the criterion validity. 41 A mixed-methods approach would aid understanding variations and nuances in how respondents perceive PSC relative to the items included on the survey. Qualitative work is underway to help explain more specifically how each factor manifests and may provide actionable recommendations so medical centers can improve their PSC.…”