Abstract
IntroductionImproving quality of maternal care as well as patients' safety are two important issues in health-care service. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the culture of patient safety at maternity units.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted among staffs working at maternity units in seven hospitals of Ilam city, Iran. The staffs included in this study were gynecologists and midwifes working in different positions including matron, supervisors, head of departments and staffs. Data were collected using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC).ResultsThis study indicated that 59.1% of participants reported fair level of overall perceptions of safety and 67.1% declared that no event was reported during the past 12 months. The most positively perceived dimension of safety culture was teamwork within departments in view of managers (79.41) and personnel (81.10). However, the least positively perceived dimensions of safety culture was staffing levels.ConclusionThe current study revealed areas of strength (teamwork within departments) and weakness (staffing, punitive responses to error) among managers and personnel. In addition, we found that staffs in Ilam's hospitals accept the patient safety culture in maternity units, but, still are far away from excellent culture of patient safety. Therefore, it is necessary to promote culture of patient's safety among professions working in the maternity units of Ilam's hospitals.
Highlights
Decreasing maternal mortality rate is recognized as an essential priority in health-care systems [1, 2]
Analysis of two outcome variables (Table 3) indicated that 59.1% of participants reported fair level of overall perceptions of safety and 67.1% declared that no event was reported during the past 12 months
The results of this study showed acceptable levels of overall perception of safety culture among both managers and personnel with higher perception among managers
Summary
Decreasing maternal mortality rate is recognized as an essential priority in health-care systems [1, 2]. Programs aimed at decreasing maternal mortality rate has always been a priority in the Iranian health system even, earlier than introducing continuous quality improvement model [3]. Some of these programs are promoting mother and child-friendly hospitals that have offered offer maternal care using professional midwifery staffs. Maternal mortality rate in Iran is still high and reported at 20.3 deaths per 1000 live births This number is shown to be higher in deprived provinces such as Ilam which is located in the west of Iran and has a shared border with Iraq [5]. This study aimed to assess safety culture in maternity units of the governmental hospital in Ilam, Iran
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
