Brief description of the patient safety concept, the role it has in the project and first results
Patient safety implies the avoidance, the prevention and the improvement of unwanted incidents or harm caused by healthcare provision measures. It includes all interventions and their underlying processes in clinics and practices that help to avoid unwanted incidents, or preventable unwanted incidents related to the treatment. These incidents are avoidable patient harm caused by healthcare, critical incidents, errors and near-misses. Safety arises through interactions between components of the system; it doesn’t rest in one person (see also Human Factors), one device, or one department. The improvement of safety depends on the knowledge of how safety arises from the interaction of the individual components of the system. Patient safety is an essential part of the quality of healthcare.
To identify relevant competences and skill requirements, as well as adequate learning methods and learning environments, a systematic literature search was conducted using the data bases PubMed, CINAHL and COCHRANE. Overall 365 articles were found and analysed in regard to its relevance for the project. The research process is illustrated in figure 1.
Flowchart describing the different phases of the systematic search on patient safety
Figure 1
In this search 51 publications were identified as relevant and evaluated using a data extraction table. The essence of the results was described in a conceptual map on patient safety.
Parallel to the systematic literature searches, existing national and international patient safety catalogues were researched. The relevant catalogues found were evaluated regarding their suitability as a foundation for the HROH basic competence catalogue. The following catalogues were considered:
- The Canadian Patient Safety Institute (2009): The Safety Competencies – Enhancing Patient Safety Across the Health Professions.
- Aktionsbündnis Patientensicherheit (2012): Wege zur Patientensicherheit – Lernzielkatalog für Kompetenzen in der Patientensicherheit. (Action Alliance on Patient Safety (2012): Pathways to Patient Safety – Learning Objective Catalogue for Competencies in Patient Safety.)
- European Network for Patient Safety (2010): A General Guide for Education and Training in Patient Safety.
- The Australian Council for Safety and Quality in healthcare (2005): National Patient Safety Education Framework.
- World Health Organization (2011): Patient Safety Curriculum Guide: Multi-professional Edition.
- World Health Organization (2009): WHO Patient Safety Curriculum Guide for Medical Schools.
References:
[1] The Canadian Patient Safety Institute (2009): The Safety Competencies – Enhancing Patient Safety Across the Health Professions.
[2] Aktionsbündnis Patientensicherheit (2012): Wege zur Patientensicherheit – Lernzielkatalog für Kompetenzen in der Patientensicherheit.
[3] European Network for Patient Safety (2010): A General Guide for Education and Training in Patient Safety.
[4] The Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care (2005): National Patient Safety Education Framework.
[5] World Health Organization (2011): Patient Safety Curriculum Guide: Multi-professional Edition.
[6] World Health Organization (2009): WHO Patient Safety Curriculum Guide for Medical Schools.
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