Haleema Saadia Khan
Quaid i Azam University, Islambad. Pakistan
Biography
Haleema Saadia Khan is a doctoral student at National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam Univeristy, Islamabad, Pakistan. She has interest in carrying out her doctoral research work on creating awareness of safety culture in health care settings.
Abstract
The study has aimed at understanding the psychological barriers and situational barriers in healthcare settings that obstruct safety performance in healthcare settings. Focus groups with physicians and nurses were held to get the ground reality of safety culture at four tertiary hospitals in three geographical areas Pakistan (Punjab, KPK, and Federal) with 18 doctors and 17 nurses. The data was transcribed and themes were generated through template style of analysis guided by reciprocal safety culture model. The broader themes identified from the theory were psychological aspects, situational aspects, and behavioral aspects in the work place that could either facilitate or hinder in a productive safety culture. The identified aspects were majorly the lagging indicators of process safety instead of the leading indicators. The underlying subthemes were lack of interest, low perceived susceptibility, and heightened confidence over expertise without taking safety measure, resilience, lack of knowledge, lack of professionalism, lack of resources, and maladaptive behaviors. 56 unique codes were identified parallel with the themes and subthemes in the study. Inadequate resources, lack of training and education are the major issues faced by the healthcare workers that can be addressed by multifaceted interventions highlighting worth of safer practices thus minimizing the risks of getting injuries and contacting various spreadable diseases in the healthcare workers, patients, and their attendants.