Safety Culture in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Comparing the Pediatric Postgraduates and Nurses Using the Safety Attitude Questionnaire

Background: Evidence shows that neonates in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICUs) experience a significantly higher potential for medication errors and adverse events rate than do patients in other wards of the hospital. This necessitates the assessment of the safety culture in the (NICU) which can help to identify areas that can lead to errors in the unit. Methods: This was cross sectional study done in the Neonatal unit, where the pediatric postgraduates resident doctors (PGs) and nurses were surveyed regarding the safety practices. The Safety Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ) which is validated and has good psychometric properties was used. Mean and Standard deviations for the six domains (job satisfaction, safety climate, teamwork climate, working conditions, perception of management and stress recognition) was analysed and unpaired t test was used to compare the means. Results: Total of 31 responses was obtained (12 PGs and 19 nurses). Overall mean scores for the SAQ were 70.2 for PGs and 63.8 for nurses, suggesting an overall negative response. Mean scores for PGs ranged from 63 (working condition) to 82.8 (stress recognition) and for nurses 48.6 (working conditions) to 82.8 (job satisfaction). There was statistically significant difference between the PGs and nurses in the domain of job satisfaction with p value of 0.03. Rest of the domains showed no significant difference. Conclusion: The scores suggest an overall negative response regarding safety culture in NICU. The variations among the Postgraduates and nurses suggest that we need customise the policies for both groups when we attempt to improve the safety culture in the unit while focussing on promoting teamwork.