Midwives' attitudes toward safety: A qualitative study

Abstract

In order to understand the cognitive and subjective perceptions of midwives' attitudes towards patient safety within the current nurse practice environment, in addition to providing new insights and guiding methods for patient safety. In this study, 10 midwives were selected using a purposive sampling method, who working in the obstetrics department of a Grade III A hospital, located in Baoding, from January to May 2018. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, face-to-face nonverbal behavior observation, and analyzed using the Colaizzi 7-step analysis method. There were three themes: (1) Patient safety issues are important and when they occur make midwives feel very frustrated or even lose confidence in their work; (2) there are numerous safety hazards in obstetrics and delivery room work; and (3) when safety problems occur, senior medical or nursing staff or leaders are most desired to be present. Hospitals should pay attention to midwives' safety attitudes, establish a safety support system, do a good job of psychological counseling after safety problems occur, systematically assess existing safety problems in departments, eliminate safety hazards in a timely manner, formulate detailed emergency plans and improve coping mechanisms.