Authors
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Lawal, B. K.
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria.
Author
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1975-0648
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Ladan, M. A.
Department of Nursing Sciences, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria.
Author
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Lawal, B. K.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria.
Author
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Bashir, A. I. J.
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria.
Author
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Borodo, S. B.
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria.
Author
Keywords:
safety culture, patient safety, safety climate, measurement; surveys
Abstract
Introduction: Patient safety as a concept emerged in response to the high burden of avoidable adverse
events. Safety culture, otherwise referred to as safety climate, has been embraced by high reliability
organisations (HROs) such as aviation and healthcare organisations. This review presents
characteristics of organisational culture, measurement of patient safety culture of an organisation and
factors that affect patient safety culture.
Main Text: Measuring and assessing patient safety culture is important so as to identify areas in need
of improvement, increase awareness of patient safety concepts, evaluate the effectiveness of patient
safety interventions over time, and conduct internal and external benchmarking. A number of
quantitative measures using surveys are available for measuring patient safety culture, with the most
common being the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC). Additionally, qualitative
methods have been suggested to provide in depth responses on safety culture while other researchers
believe an ideal approach would be to use a variety of measurements (mixed methods approach) to
obtain a comprehensive understanding of the phenomena. A number of factors are considered to affect
patient safety culture. These range from factors affecting unit/departmental level, to
system/management factors and patient factors. These factors require periodic measurement to identify
areas of weakness for improvement purposes.
Conclusion: As safety culture is a complex phenomenon, healthcare organisations must understand
and consider the underlying constructs, attributes and factors that affect patient safety in order to reduce
adverse events, improve quality of care and carry out regular assessments.
Author Biographies
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Lawal, B. K., Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria.
Lecturer in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management at Kaduna State University. She served as the lead author for this review, specializing in healthcare organizational culture, patient safety climate, and clinical risk management.
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Ladan, M. A., Department of Nursing Sciences, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria.
Academic staff at Bayero University, Kano, with expertise in nursing education and the clinical application of safety protocols within high-reliability organizations.
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Lawal, B. K., Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria.
Medical practitioner at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital. Contributed to the review by providing clinical insights into adverse events and patient involvement in safety decision-making.
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Bashir, A. I. J., Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria.
Researcher at Kaduna State University who contributed to the synthesis of literature regarding the pharmacological aspects of patient safety and medication errors.
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Borodo, S. B., Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria.
Academic researcher specializing in pharmacology and therapeutics. Assisted in evaluating the effectiveness of patient safety interventions and the factors affecting safety culture in healthcare settings.
