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Safety culture in intensive care internationally and in Australia: A narrative review of the literature
- Source :
- Australian critical care : official journal of the Confederation of Australian Critical Care Nurses. 32(6)
- Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- Objective Assessment of safety culture in health care is of particular relevance in the complex intensive care setting, where the effects of human error can have catastrophic consequences. The aim of this review was to examine the literature on safety culture in intensive care units (ICUs) and specifically, to explore the state of knowledge regarding safety culture in the context of Australian ICUs. Methods A search was conducted of key databases for studies published in English between January 2008 and December 2017 using terms ‘safety culture’, ‘safety climate’, ‘safety attitude’, ‘intensive care’, ‘ICU’ and ‘critical care’. Studies were included if they presented original research, utilised the teamwork and safety climate factors of a quantitative survey tool to assess safety culture, the sample population included participants working in an adult intensive care, and the findings were reported in the context of intensive care. Results Of the 36 studies identified, two were conducted in Australia. The studies demonstrate a rapid expansion in safety culture assessment globally. Three levels of safety culture application in intensive care were identified, including safety culture assessment, effect of an intervention on safety culture, and evaluation of the association between safety culture and structural, process and outcomes measures. The use of targeted safety culture domains is emerging. Common findings included variation in perceptions of safety culture between ICUs, unit and hospital management, and professional groups. Conclusion Though the assessment of safety culture in ICUs has been an area of prolific research internationally over the past ten years, the Australian context is limited and could be advanced through further research, including the effect on safety culture of interventions, and to establish the association between safety culture and patient safety outcomes. Longitudinal studies to demonstrate sustained intervention effects on safety culture should be considered.
- Subjects :
- Safety Management
Internationality
Attitude of Health Personnel
media_common.quotation_subject
Human error
Psychological intervention
Context (language use)
Emergency Nursing
Critical Care Nursing
03 medical and health sciences
Patient safety
0302 clinical medicine
Nursing
Intensive care
Health care
Medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Safety culture
media_common
Teamwork
business.industry
Australia
030208 emergency & critical care medicine
Organizational Culture
Intensive Care Units
business
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 10367314
- Volume :
- 32
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Australian critical care : official journal of the Confederation of Australian Critical Care Nurses
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....64f5603d7122f091a81d3645fe648cfe