The Impact of Accreditation on Patient Safety and Quality of Care as Perceived by Nursing Staff in a Cardiac Care Centre in the Eastern Province, Kingdome of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Accreditation is one of the approaches to evaluate the quality of health care services, and it’s an essential requirement for the continuity of services. Nursing staff play a major role in the accreditation preparation, process and continuity. The study aimed to assess the nursing perception of the impact of accreditation on the quality of care and safety in a tertiary cardiac care center in the Eastern Province, Kingdome of Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional descriptive research design was used. A convenient sample of 56 nursing staff was included. The study tool was a self-administered online questionnaire. It consisted of four major sections with 20 subscales rated from 1 to 5 on a Likert scale. Nursing documentation, patient medication information, healthcare-associated infection, leadership and support sections are all included. The study findings indicated that nurses have a 94.6% positive perception of the impact of accreditation on the patient’s safety. This perception was measured in accordance with the items related to international patients’ safety goals. Higher agreement was found on the items of nursing clinical documentation and medication safety process. The study findings support the overall positive impact of accreditation. The study further recommends exploring the nursing perception of accreditation impact in different settings.