Healthc Inform Res.  2014 Jul;20(3):209-215. 10.4258/hir.2014.20.3.209.

Effectiveness and Sustainability of Education about Incident Reporting at a University Hospital in Japan

• Nakamura N
• Yamashita
• Tanihara S
• Maeda C

• KMID: 2284584
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4258/hir.2014.20.3.209

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of educational interventions to encourage incident reporting.
METHODS
This was a quasi-experimental design. The study involved nurses working in two gastroenterology surgical wards at Fukuoka University Hospital, Japan. The number of participants on each ward was 26 nurses at baseline. For the intervention group, we provided 15 minutes of education about patient safety and the importance of incident reporting once per month for six months. After the completion of the intervention, we compared incident reporting in the subsequent 12 months for both groups. Questionnaires about reasons/motives for reporting were administered three times, before the intervention, after the intervention, and six months after the intervention for both the intervention group and the control group.
RESULTS
For the intervention group, incident reporting during the 6 months after the intervention period increased significantly compared with the baseline. During the same period, the reasons and motives for reporting changed significantly in the intervention group. The increase in reported incidents during the 6- to 12-month period following the intervention was not significant. In the control group, there was no significant difference during follow-up compared with the baseline.
CONCLUSIONS
A brief intervention about patient safety changed the motives for reporting incidents and the frequency of incidents reported by nurses working in surgical wards in a university hospital in Japan. However, the effect of the education decreased after six months following the education. Regular and long-term effort is required to maintain the effect of education.

Keyword

Patient Safety; Risk Management

MeSH Terms

Education*
Follow-Up Studies
Gastroenterology
Japan*
Patient Safety
Risk Management
Surveys and Questionnaires

Figure

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  Figure 1 Flow of this study. *Lectures to nurses for 15 minutes once every month during 6 months. †The questionnaires were administered during the last week of each period: baseline, end of September 2011; 1st period, end of March 2012; 2nd period, end of September 2012.

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  Figure 2 Trends in reporting rates by 6-month period after intervention as percentage change relative to baseline. *Mann-Whitney U-test.

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  Figure 3 Number of confusing input items by 6-month period before and after intervention. *t-test.

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