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When concerned with safety issues related to their care, patientsprefer to challenge nurses rather than doctors, according to a studyreleased on April 3, 2008 in the BMJ Specialty Journal Qualityand Safety in Health Care. Additionally, women were found tobe more assertive in this respect than men.
These findings were determined through a validated survey whichinquired about the factors that influenced patients’ willingness to askhealthcare professionals questions related to the safety of treatmentmethods. All 80 respondents had undergone surgery at an inner Londonteaching hospital, and scored their willingness to ask differentprofessionals different questions. The scale given was as low as 1,indicating they would “definitely not be willing,” and as high as 4,stating that they “definitely would be willing.” From these data, anaverage score was calculated and used to search for any statisticallysignificant factors.
Patients were far more likely to pose factual questions to allhealthcare professionals, auch as inquiring about the length of theirhospital stay. They were less likely to ask questions that could beperceived as challenges to the professional’s clinical abilities, suchas whether the healthcare professional had washed his or her hands.
They were more willing to direct factual questions to doctors than tonurses (a score of 3.41 versus a score of 3.09.) They were more willingto ask nurses questions that challenged their clinical abilities thandoctors (a score of 2.58 compared with 2.39.) However, whendoctors pointedly encouraged patients to ask more difficult questions,they were overall more willing to quiz both sets on both safety andquality issues.
The patients who were least willing to quiz any professionals aboutsafety and quality issues were generally male, had lower levels ofeducation, and were unemployed. Women were the most willing to askquestions in general.
Approximately one in ten patients will experience an error in his orher medical treatment while in a hospital. However, it is possible thatif patients are more willing to ask their caretakers challengingquestions, this rate could fall, according to the authors. Theyexplain: “Patients need to feel they can ask questions that may beperceived as challenging, without causing offence to those involved intheir healthcare treatment.”
How willing are patients to question healthcare staff onissues related to the quality and safety of their healthcare? Anexploratory study
R E Davis, M Koutantji, C A Vincent
Qual Saf Health Care 2008;17:90-96.
doi:10.1136/qshc.2007.023754
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Written by Anna Sophia McKenney
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