AHRQ Study Examines Hospitals’ HAI Safety Culture Based on Staff Characteristics

Although they have a lot of patient contact, health care technicians may not be doing enough to prevent infections and improve safety when compared with other staff, according to an AHRQ-funded study that examined the patient safety culture at five hospitals across the United States. The study found that frontline staff (aides, medical technologists, and phlebotomists) were less aware of hospital efforts to monitor infections and the presence of an interdisciplinary approach to patient safety. Noting that the safety culture for infection prevention varied more by hospital than by the hospital staff’s position or experience, the study suggested tailoring safety education programs to the needs of each hospital rather than to the characteristics of its staff. The study -- “Does Health Care Role and Experience Influence Perception of Safety Culture Related to Preventing Infections?” – was published in the July issue of the American Journal of Infection Control. Select to access the PubMed® abstract.

2013 Jul;41(7):638-41. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2012.09.006.

Does health care role and experience influence perception of safety culture related to preventing infections?

Braun BI, Harris AD, Richards CL, Belton BM, Dembry LM, Morton DJ, Xiao Y.

Source

Division of Healthcare Quality Evaluation, The Joint Commission, Oakbrook Terrace, IL. Electronic address: BBraun@jointcommission.org.

Abstract

Growing evidence reveals the importance of improving safety culture in efforts to eliminate health care-associated infections. This multisite, cross-sectional survey examined the association between professional role and health care experience on infection prevention safety culture at 5 hospitals. The findings suggest that frontline health care technicians are less directly engaged in improvement efforts and safety education than other staff and that infection prevention safety culture varies more by hospital than by staff position and experience.
Copyright © 2013 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. All rights reserved.