Evaluating the relationship between safety culture and the quality of patient handover between the ambulance and emergency department from the viewpoints of hospital emergency nurses and emergency medical personnel in northwest Iran

Abstract

Aims: The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between safety culture and the quality of patient handover between the ambulance and emergency. Background: Evaluating the patient safety culture significantly affects the quality of patient handover, medical, and care services in different hospital units, especially the emergency department. Methods: The present correlational study was conducted on all nurses working in the emergency departments of educational-medical centers (N=220) and medical emergency personnel of Ardabil city (N=92) using the census method. The data were collected using the Leif et al. (2018) Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Questionnaire and the Golling et al. (2022) Quality of Patient Handover between Ambulance and Emergency Department Questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS software (26) using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficients, and linear regression logistic model. Results: The results revealed that the quality of patient safety culture in emergency nurses (90.5%) and emergency medical personnel (89.1%) was at a moderate level. The mean patient safety culture in emergency nurses (17.75±151.43) was higher than in emergency medical personnel (148.37±18.48) and this difference was statistically significant (P<0.04). The quality of patient handover among emergency nurses (71.7%) and emergency medical personnel (83.7%) was also moderate and it was statistically significant (P<0.04). There was a positive and significant correlation between the patient safety culture and the quality of patient handover between the ambulance and emergency department (P<0.01). The stepwise multiple linear regression model showed that "teamwork between organizational units" was a stronger predictor than other variables in the quality of patient handover between the ambulance and emergency department. Conclusion: The results revealed that by increasing the level of patient safety culture in emergency nurses, the quality of patient handover increases. Therefore, it is recommended that the policymakers in the health area take the necessary measures by holding briefing workshops to promote the culture of patient safety and strengthen teamwork among the emergency department personnel.