108 Scholars Academic Journal of Pharmacy (SAJP) ISSN 2320-4206 (Online) Sch. Acad. J. Pharm., 2015; 4(2): 108-116 ISSN 2347-9531 (Print) ©Scholars Academic and Scientific Publisher (An International Publisher for Academic and Scientific Resources) www.saspublisher.com Research Article Pharmacy Patient Safety: 1. Evaluation of Pharmacy Patient Safety Culture in a tertiary hospital in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Owonaro PA, Eneyi KE, Eniojukan JF* Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology, Pharmacoeconomics and Patient Safety Research, Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Nigeria *Corresponding author Joshua F Eniojukan Email: jeniojukan@yahoo.com Abstract: Patient safety, which is the prevention of patient harm resulting from the processes of health care delivery, is a critical component of health care quality. This study sought to evaluate the culture of pharmacy patient safety in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Questionnaire on Pharmacy Safety was adapted and used for this study. The questionnaire was administered randomly to 25 staff working in the pharmacy area where prescriptions were dropped off, filled, dispensed, and picked up or prepared for delivery. A purposive sampling technique was utilized whereby only staffs that had direct professional interactions with patients were randomly selected. Data was analyzed with SPSS V. 20. Over 80% of respondents were professionals (pharmacists /Internees) who were directly involved in providing pharmaceutical services in the department; 57% of respondents had worked in the pharmacy department from 6 months to 6 years and 92% worked at least 32 hours per week. Overall positive responses were highly significant for Teamwork (92%), Overall Perception of Patient Safety (91%), Patient Counselling (81%), but poor for Documenting Mistakes (52%) Response to Mistakes (46%) and Staffing, Work Pressure and Pace (30%). Patient Safety in this Pharmacy received an overall rating of 86.3%. Management of the hospital need re-evaluate current safety culture composites; amend systems where necessary in order to reduce risks and to improve Pharmacy Patient Safety. Keywords: Culture, Hospital, Patient, Pharmacy, Practices, Safety. INTRODUCTION Safety, regarded as the first domain of quality, refers to freedom from accidental injury. This definition is stated from the patient’s perspective [1]. Patient safety is freedom from accidental injuries during the course of medical care; activities to avoid, prevent, or correct adverse outcomes which may result from the delivery of health care [1, 2]. A comprehensive approach to patient safety has advocated six major areas: Structure, Environment, Equipment/technology; Processes; People, and Leadership systems/culture [3, 4, 5]. Thus, a culture of safety is an integrated pattern of individual and organizational behaviour, based upon shared beliefs and values that continuously seek to minimize patient harm which may result from the processes of care delivery. [6]. Patient safety culture has also been defined as the set of values, beliefs, and norms about what is important, how to behave, and what attitudes are appropriate when it comes to patient safety in a workgroup or organization. [7]. There isn’t a universally accepted definition of a safety culture in healthcare but it is essentially a culture where staffs have a constant and active awareness of the potential for things to go wrong. It is also a culture that is open and fair and one that encourages people to speak up about mistakes. In organisations with a safety culture, people are able to learn about what is going wrong and then put things right [8]. A safety culture is essentially a culture where everyone has a constant and active awareness of her/his role and contribution to the organization [9]. Thus, a system-based approach is considered as the proven way to improve patient safety. The systems-based approach takes into account many components recognized as contributing to an incident or to the events leading up to it. This moves the investigator away from focusing blame on individuals and looks at what was wrong with the system in which the individuals were working. [9] The overall goal of this study was to evaluate the culture of pharmacy patient safety in a tertiary hospital in the Niger delta area of Nigeria. Specifically, the study assessed the current status of patient safety culture, and identified strengths and areas for patient safety culture improvement. METHOD Study site The study was carried out at the Federal Medical Centre, a tertiary (teaching) hospital facility