Working Experience of Managers Who Are Responsible for Promoting and Monitoring Patient Safety in South Korea: Focusing on Small- and Medium-Sized Hospitals

Abstract

Objectives: This study explored the working experience of patient safety managers (PSMs) in small- and medium-sized hospitals (SMHs).

Methods: A qualitative study comprising 3 focus group discussions (6 people each) was conducted. Patient safety managers working in SMHs-hospitals with 100 to 300 beds-were included. Researchers analyzed the transcribed script, and a conventional content analysis was performed to describe PSMs' working experience.

Results: All the PSMs were nurses and with an average (SD) work experience of 1.51 (1.02) years. Five core themes and 17 subthemes were derived. The PSMs reported that it was difficult to perform patient safety tasks alone and cooperate with other departments. Because of members who did not acknowledge PSMs' authority as experts, PSMs experienced identity confusion. Lack of an established patient safety culture in SMHs hindered the PSMs from performing patient safety-related duties. The government continues to train PSMs and provide materials; however, they are not suitable for SMHs and thus cannot be used. The PSMs hoped to overcome the system's initial phase and become professionals.

Conclusions: Patient safety managers faced difficulties because of the lack of guidelines, training, and systems. Nevertheless, they have attempted to overcome these problems themselves, so they can be recognized as professionals. This study's findings can be used as basic data to provide differentiated support for PSMs, based on hospital size.