Comparison of perceptions about patient safety culture between physicians and nurses in public hospitals in Vietnam (6 September 2022)

Summary

Patient safety culture is a vital component in ensuring high-quality and safe patient care. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess doctors’ and nurses’ perceptions of patient safety culture in five public general hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The study found that the mean scores among nurses were significantly higher than that among physicians for several categories:

• supervisor/manager expectations
• staffing
• management support for patient safety
• teamwork across units
• handoffs and transitions

Nurses reported significantly higher patient grades than physicians (75% vs 67.1%) and around two-thirds of physicians and nurses reported no event in the past 12 months (62.8 and 71.7% respectively).

The authors recommend that hospitals develop and implement intervention programs to improve patient safety, including around teamwork and communication, encouraging staff to notify incidents and avoiding punitive responses.