Patient safety and the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study of perspectives of front-line clinicians

Abstract

IntroductionStudies on the impacts of COVID-19 on patient safety are emerging. However, few studies have elicited the perspectives of front-line clinicians.MethodsWe interviewed clinicians from 16 US hospitals who worked in the emergency department, intensive care unit or inpatient unit during the COVID-19 pandemic. We asked about their experiences with both clinician well-being and patient care throughout the pandemic. We used a rigorous thematic analysis to code the interview transcripts. This study was part of a larger randomised control trial of an intervention to improve healthcare worker well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic; the findings described here draw from clinicians who spontaneously raised issues related to patient safety.Results11 physicians and 16 nurses in our sample raised issues related to patient safety. We identified two primary themes: (1) compromised access to healthcare and (2) impaired care delivery. First, clinicians discussed how changes in access to healthcare early in the pandemic–including a shift to telehealth and deferred care–led to delays in accurate diagnosis and patients presenting later in their disease course. Second, clinicians discussed the effects of COVID-19 on care delivery related to staffing, equipment shortages and space constraints and how they deviated from the standard of care to manage these constraints. Clinicians noted how these issues led to patient safety events such as central line infections, patient falls and serious medication administration errors.ConclusionsSeveral well-intentioned interventions implemented in the early weeks of the pandemic created a unique context that affected patient safety throughout the pandemic. Future pandemic preparedness should consider planning that incorporates a patient safety lens to mitigate further harm from occurring during a public health crisis.