K. E. Anthony1, N. B. Hebballi1, K. Sheppard1, K. Tsao1, A. L. Kawaguchi1 1McGovern Medical School at UTHealth and Children’s Memorial Hermann,Department Of Pediatric Surgery,Houston, TX, USA
Introduction: While patient safety research often focuses on the perspective of healthcare providers and patients, the parents of pediatric patients also play a significant role in their children’s healthcare. We hypothesized that parents will offer unique observations on their children’s healthcare safety that may be useful to improve patient care.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on a medical-surgical pediatric unit within a tertiary children’s hospital. Over a ten-week period in 2018, English-speaking parents and legal guardians were asked to complete a paper or electronic survey about patient safety adapted from the validated inpatient Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. The survey contained 20 questions on a 5-point Likert scale representing three domains: safety climate, perception about management, and teamwork. Two additional open-ended questions were included to identify their top three patient safety issues and viewpoints on patient safety in the hospital.
Results: 150 of the 168 (89%) patient families approached agreed to participate. 58 of the 150 surveys were returned (39%). 53 were paper surveys and 5 were submitted electronically. Patients had a median length of stay of 3 days (range 1-17 days), with 48% a first hospitalization, and a wide variety of diagnoses. Overall, 96% of the responses were slightly or strongly positive. Safety climate statements were 95% positive, teamwork statements were 98% positive, and perception of management statements were 97% positive. The statements with the least positive parental responses are listed in the table below. The top three most common parental responses to the open-ended questions included concerns about security at the entrance of the floor, handwashing by staff, and bed height for pediatric patients.
Conclusion: Parents have a unique perspective on safety concerns regarding their child’s care while in the hospital. A focus on improving communication, improving information exchange, and empowering parents to speak up for their child’s care may be useful to help improve the care of pediatric patients.