Open Access

ARTICLE

Patient safety education and perceptions of safety culture in American and Canadian urological residency training programs

Justin B. Ziemba¹, Christopher D. Tessier², Andrew M. Harris³

1 Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
2 Department of Urology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA
3 Department of Urology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Address correspondence to Dr. Justin B. Ziemba, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Division of Urology, 3 West Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, 3400 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA

Canadian Journal of Urology 2020, 27(6), 10431-10436.

Abstract

Introduction: To assess the perception of patient safety culture and the infrastructure to support patient safety (PS) education within American and Canadian urological residency programs.
Materials and methods: A needs assessment was developed by experts in patient safety. The survey contained items about prior PS education, perceived value of learning PS, components of an ideal PS curriculum, and desired resources to facilitate PS education. Select items from the validated AHRQ Survey on Patient Safety Culture (SOPS) were also included. The survey was distributed electronically (12/2018-2/2019) to all urology residents (RES) and program directors (PD) of urological residency programs via the Society of Academic Urologists. All responses were anonymous.
Results: A total of 26 PD (18.3%; 26/142) and 100 RES (6.7%; 100/1,491) completed the survey. Nearly all RES received PS training (79%), but this was lower for PD (42%). The majority of RES and PD felt that PS was an important educational competency (RES = 83%; PD = 89%) and a pathway for academic success (RES = 74%; PD = 84%). Both groups desired an online PS curriculum (RES = 69%; PD = 68%) with error causation models (RES = 42%; PD = 52%) as the primary topic to cover. Assessment of safety culture confirmed safety is a priority, but only 1 PD (5%; 1/19) and 25 RES (25%; 25/100) rated their residency program’s overall safety grade as “excellent”.
Conclusions: PS education remains a priority for program directors and urological trainees. Both groups called for additional resources from urological professional societies for this education. To that end, an online, centralized, freely accessible PS curriculum is under development.

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