Pharmacy Patient Safety: Attitudes of pharmacy personnel to Patient Safety Culture in a tertiary hospital in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Patient safety is the prevention of patient harm resulting from the processes of health care delivery. The objective of this study was to evaluate the attitudes of pharmacy personnel to Patient Safety Culture in a tertiary hospital in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality questionnaire on Pharmacy Safety was administered randomly to 25 staff (Staff Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and Intern Pharmacists) working in the pharmacy area where prescriptions were dropped off, filled, dispensed, and picked up or prepared for delivery. There were no significant associations between staff categories and Work Pace (X2 = 1.013, p = 0.908), Response to mistakes (X2 = 1.043, p = 0.593); Documenting mistakes (X2 = 0.622, p = 0.961) and Overall rating (X2 = 2.127, p = 0.712). There was, however, a significant association of staff categories with Working in pharmacy(X 2 = 12.873, p = 0.012) and Communication (X2 = 22.457, p = 0.000).All categories of staff were generally in agreement in rating the culture composites in this hospital. Discrepancies in the perceptions amongst Staff should be properly addressed in order to enhance Patient Safety within the pharmacy.