Patient safety culture and handoff evaluation of nurses in small and medium-sized hospitals

Objectives:This study was conducted to investigate the current status of handoffs,perception of patient safety culture,and degrees of handoff evaluation in small and medium-sized hospitals and identified factors that make a difference in handoff evaluation.Methods:This is a descriptive study.425 nurses who work at small and medium-sized hospitals in South Korea were included in our study.They completed a set of self-reporting questionnaires that evaluated demographic data,handoff-related characteristics,perception of patient safety culture,and handoff evaluation.Results:Results showed that the overall score of awareness of a patient safety culture was 3.65±0.45,the level was moderate.The score of handoff evaluation was 5.24±0.85.Most nurses experienced errors in handoff and most nurses had no guidelines and checklist in the ward.Handoff evaluation differed significantly according to the level of education,work patterns,duration of hospital employment,handoff method,degree of satisfaction with the current handoff method,errors occurring at the time of handoff,handoff guidelines,and appropriateness of handoff education time(P<0.05).Conclusion:For handoff improvement,guidelines and standards should be established.It is necessary to develop a structured handoff education system.And formal handoff education should be implemented to spread knowledge uniformly.

Frequency and barriers of reporting workplace violence in nurses:An online survey in China

Objectives:This study aimed to explore the reporting of workplace violence against nurses and the reasons why they did not reported.Methods:A self-designed questionnaire regarding workplace violence and reporting was used to conduct a cross-sectional survey on nurses who submitted a manuscript to a Chinese nursing journal from 2016 to 2017.A total of 324 nurses agreed to participate in this study and 266 participants from 165 hospitals in 72 cities returned questionnaires.Results:A total of 172 nurses(64.7%)experienced violent incidents during the past year.Of these incidents,45.5%were reported;and the reporting rate of physical assaults(69.0%)was higher than those of verbal abuse(36.9%),threatening behavior(51.7%),and sexual harassment(60.0%).Formal reporting accounted for 25.4%(15.4%in written form and 10.0%through a computer-assisted reporting system).Almost half of the nurses(49.6%)stated that the hospital had no reporting system or they were uncertain about the reporting system.For reasons of not reporting,51.9%of the nurses were unware of how and what types of violence to report,and 50.6%of the nurses believed that the hospital paid greater attention to patients rather than staff.Conclusions:A clear definition of workplace violence and reporting procedures,establishment of a facile system for reporting,and supervisory support following a reporting are urgently required.

A study of the relationship between professional values and ethical climate and nurses'professional quality of life in Iran

Objective:To explore the relationship between nursing professional values and ethical climate and nurses'professional quality of life.Methods:The present study is a descriptive,cross-sectional work in which 400 nurses from various wards of hospitals in the south-east of Iran were studied.Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of four sections:demographics,Nurses'Professional Values Scale-Revised(NPVS-R),the Hospital Ethical Climate Survey(HECS),and the Professional Quality of Life Scale(ProQOL).Results:The total mean scores for professional values were 105.29±15.60.The total mean score for the ethical climate was 100.09±17.11.The mean scores for the indexes of compassion satisfaction,burnout,and secondary traumatic stress were 45.29±8.93,34.38±6.84,and 32.15±7.02 respectively.The relationships between professional values and the indexes of compassion satisfaction(r=0.56),burnout(r=0.26),and secondary traumatic stress(r=0.18)were found to be positive and significant(P<0.001).Also,the relationships between ethical climate and the items of compassion satisfaction(r=0.60,P<0.001),burnout(r=0.15,P=0.002)were found to be positive and significant.Conclusion:An understanding of nurses'perception of professional values and improving the ethical climate at work can help nursing administrators identify more effective strategies toward increasing compassion satisfaction and lessening bumout and work-related stress.

A study of the relationship between nurses'experience,structural empowerment,and attitudes toward computer use

Objective:This study examined the relationship between structural empowerment and nurses’experience and attitudes toward computer use.Methods:This study was conducted using a cross-sectional quantitative design.A total of 184 registered nurses from four hospitals in Jordan participated in the current study.Data were collected using a demographics questionnaire,the Conditions for Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II(CWEQ-II),and the Pretest for Attitudes toward Computers in Healthcare(PATCH).Results:The median of experience in years among nurses was 5.0,ranging from one to 26 years.The mean score for the attitudes toward computer use was 61.90±11.38.Almost half of the participants,45.11%,were in the category of“feel comfortable using user-friendly computers.”The participants’mean average of the total structural empowerment was 12.40±2.43,and the values for its four subscales were:opportunity 3.57±0.87,resources 2.83±0.85,information 3.06±0.79,and support 2.95±0.86.The frequencies analysis revealed that most participants had a moderate level of empowerment(n¼127,69.02%).The bivariate correlation between nurses’experience and attitudes toward computer use was significant(r¼0.17,P<0.05).The relationship between the total structural empowerment score and attitudes toward computer use was positive but weak(r¼0.20,P<0.01).Conclusion:The results indicated that more experienced nurses are more reluctant toward computer use.However,creating an empowering work environment can facilitate nurses’attitudes toward computer use.

Reliability and validation of the Arabic version of the Conditions for Workplace Effectiveness Questionnaire-Ⅱ

Objective:This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Conditions for Workplace Effectiveness Questionnaire-Ⅱ-Arabic Version(CWEQ-Ⅱ-AV),which measures structural empowerment among nurses.To enhance the usability and credibility of the CWEQ-Ⅱ among researchers within Arabicspeaking countries,a valid and reliable Arabic version of the measure is necessary.Methods:A cross-sectional research design was used.From December 2018 to June 2019,275 nurses working in 4 hospitals participated in the study.Reliability was assessed by examining internal consistency and split-half reliability.A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to evaluate the factor structure of the CWEQ-Ⅱ-AV.Results:The psychometric properties of the CWEQ-Ⅱ-AV were excellent regarding the six-factor model(opportunity,information,resources,support,formal power,and informal power).The results showed the following fit indices meet the criteria set a priori:comparative fit index(CFI)=0.96,root mean square of error approximation(RMSEA)=0.06,andХ^(2)/df=2.08.Cronbach's a coefficient was 0.95 for the total questionnaire and ranged between 0.83 and 0.89 for the individual subscales.The split-half reliability was 0.91 for the total questionnaire and ranged from 0.83 to 0.87 for individual subscales.Conclusion:This study provides evidence that CWEQ-Ⅱ-AV is both a reliable and valid measure of structural empowerment among Arab nurses.