Nurses' Compliance with Patient Safety Standards in an Accredited Hospital

Abstract

Background: Patient safety standards are the most important of all accreditation standards. Aim of the study: to assess nurses' compliance with patient safety standards in an accredited hospital through assessing their knowledge, compliance, and documentation of patient safety standards. Subjects and methods: The study was carried out at "Dar Al-Shifa" Hospital using a descriptive cross-sectional design on 89 staff nurses. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire for nurses’ knowledge, an observation checklist for compliance, and an audit sheet for reviewing documentation. Results: Nurses’ age ranged between 19 and 55 years, mostly females (82.0%), with diploma degree in nursing (87.6%). Most nurses (84.3%) had satisfactory total knowledge of patient safety. Their compliance was lowest for hand hygiene (68.5%), and labeling medication containers (53.4%), while 86.5% had adequate total compliance, and 94.4% had adequate documentation. A significant positive correlation was found between the scores of compliance and related documentation (r=0.273). In multivariate analysis, training in leadership was a significant positive predictor of the compliance and audit score, whereas a higher qualification was a negative predictor. Conclusion and recommendations: The majority of staff nurses in accredited hospital have satisfactory knowledge of patient safety, adequate total compliance with patient safety standards, and adequate related documentation. All hospitals should to seek accreditation due to its positive impact.