Högskolan i Skövde

Background: Nursing education entails extensive training across varying settings where nursing students can practice their theoretical knowledge and practical skills for their future profession. Skills in evidence-based practice are pivotal competences for nurses and need to evolve from novice to expert skills. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sweden had a unique approach to restrictions. The conditions for nursing students to apply their practical skills changed, as the COVID-19 pandemic influenced nursing education. Previous studies lacked focus on the clinical and practical aspects of the nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such experiences can provide valuable knowledge for nursing education, especially in preparing for future crises as well as understanding the needs of the nurses who were educated during the pandemic. The aim of this study is therefore to highlight the essence and understanding of the experiences of nursing students undertaking nursing education in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A qualitative interview study of nine nursing students recruited through a convenience sample. The data was analyzed through a phenomenological hermeneutic approach, chosen for two of the opportunity to use the researcher’s preunderstanding. The result is presented in three main themes; Being disappointed yet accepting the situation, Feelings of uncertainty and the covid-19 pandemic provided new insights, the two latter are further divided into a total of eight subthemes.

Results: The COVID-19 pandemic affected nursing students’ experience with clinical learning and contributed to their unique experiences. Compared to students who began their nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic, those who started before the outbreak faced more significant adjustments in their learning. It was seen as positive for the student’s future profession that a great focus was placed on how to prevent the spread of infection. The students experienced loneliness in the lack of support from other students, and fear of infecting or being infected. Furthermore, there was a lack of clinical placement and training hours, leading to worries of not being prepared. Opinions differed between the students on whether the clinical knowledge they acquired during the training was sufficient. Whilst the vast majority wanted more time for practical elements and training, they emphasized that this was not solely caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic but an effect of the design of the education.

Conclusions: The study showed that, through the shared experiences of nursing students who studied during the COVID-19 pandemic, education and the acquisition of clinical skills were affected. The students experienced feelings of loneliness in their isolation and fear of infecting or being infected throughout their education. However, the majority found themselves with a sense of acceptance of the situation, while there were also experiences of pausing the education because of the pandemic. Being a part of the group of nursing students participating in education during the COVID-19 pandemic gave new insights into the nursing profession regarding hygiene routine and hindering factors in communication with patients. Nursing students who have gone through their education during the COVID-19 pandemic have unique experiences such as preparedness of coming pandemics and the importance of reflection surrounding clinical education that are worthy of sharing. These experiences could be helpful when developing nursing education in the future and preparing for possible future crisis situations.

Objective This study aimed to survey health care professionals in Sweden on the factors that they believe have been most important in reaching the current level of patient safety and achieving safer care in the future as well as the characteristics of the county councils that have been the most successful in achieving safe care.

Methods The study population consisted of 222 patient safety officers, that is, health care professionals with strategic positions in patient safety work in the county councils. A postal questionnaire was used for data collection.

Results The survey response rate was 70%. The factors that were considered most important for the current level of patient safety were efforts to reduce the use of antibiotics; Swedish patient safety law; and internal discussions with the county council management, heads of health care units, health care providers, and so on. The factors that were considered most important to achieve safer care in the future were improved communication between health care practitioners and patients, improved organizational culture, improved communication, and patient safety knowledge as a compulsory component of basic education for health care practitioners.

Conclusions Several factors rated highly for achieving the current level of patient safety are part of the government-supported financial incentive plan. Patient safety is attributed to a broad range of factors, and many solutions might contribute to improved patient safety in the future. The most successful county councils are characterized by leadership support for patient safety, well-organized patient safety work, long-term commitment to patient safety, and an organizational culture that is conducive to patient safety.

Background: There is widespread recognition of the problem of unsafe care and extensive efforts have been made over the last 15 years to improve patient safety. In Sweden, a new patient safety law obliges the 21 county councils to assemble a yearly patient safety report (PSR). The aim of this study was to describe the patient safety work carried out in Sweden by analysing the PSRs with regard to the structure, process and result elements reported, and to investigate the perceived usefulness of the PSRs as a tool to achieve improved patient safety.

Methods: The study was based on two sources of data: patient safety reports obtained from county councils in Sweden published in 2014 and a survey of health care practitioners with strategic positions in patient safety work, acting as key informants for their county councils. Answers to open-ended questions were analysed using conventional content analysis.

Results: A total of 14 structure elements, 31 process elements and 23 outcome elements were identified. The most frequently reported structure elements were groups devoted to working with antibiotics issues and electronic incident reporting systems. The PSRs were perceived to provide a structure for patient safety work, enhance the focus on patient safety and contribute to learning about patient safety.

Conclusion: Patient safety work carried out in Sweden, as described in annual PSRs, features a wide range of structure, process and result elements. According to health care practitioners with strategic positions in the county councils' patient safety work, the PSRs are perceived as useful at various system levels.

Patient safety has progressed in 15 years from being a relatively insignificant issue to a position high on the agenda for health care providers, managers and policymakers as well as the general public. Sweden has seen increased national, regional and local patient safety efforts since 2011 when a new patient safety law was introduced and a four-year financial incentive plan was launched to encourage county councils to carry out specified measures and meet certain patient safety related criteria. However, little is known about what structures and processes contribute to improved patient safety outcomes and how the context influences the results.

The overall aim of this thesis was to generate knowledge for improved understanding and explanation of influences on patient safety in the county councils in Sweden. To address this issue, five studies were conducted: interviews with nurses and infection control practitioners, surveys to patient safety officers and a document analysis of patient safety reports. Patient safety officers are healthcare professionals who hold key positions in their county council’s patient safety work. The findings from the studies were structured through a framework based on Donabedian’s triad (with a contextual element added) and applying a learning perspective, highlight areas that are potentially important to improve the patient safety in Swedish county councils.

Study I showed that the conditions for the county councils’ patient safety work could be improved. Conducting root-cause analysis and attaining an organizational culture that encourages reporting and avoids blame were perceived to be of importance for improving patient safety. Study II showed that nurses perceived facilitators and barriers for improved patient safety at several system levels. Study III revealed many different types of obstacles to effective surveillance of health care-associated infections (HAIs), the majority belonging to the early stages of the surveillance process. Many of the obstacles described by the infection control practitioners restricted the use of results in efforts to reduce HAIs. Study IV of the Patient Safety Reports identified 14 different structure elements of patient safety work, 31 process elements and 23 outcome elements. These reports were perceived by patient safety officers to be useful for providing a structure for patient safety work in the county councils, for enhancing the focus on patient safety issues and for learning from the patient safety work that is undertaken. In Study V the patient safety officers rated efforts to reduce the use of antibiotics and improved communication between health care practitioners and patients as most important for attaining current and future levels of patient safety in their county council. The patient safety officers also perceived that the most successful county councils regarding patient safety have good leadership support, a long-term commitment and a functional work organisation for patient safety work.

Taken together, the five studies of this thesis demonstrate that patient safety is a multifaceted problem that requires multifaceted solutions. The findings point to an insufficient transition of assembled data and information into action and learning for improved patient safety.

Sverige fick en ny patientsäkerhetslag 2011 i syfte att göra vården säkrare. I denna ingår att alla vårdgivare årligen ska ställa samman en patientsäkerhetsberättelse (PSB) med början för verksamhetsåret 2010. PSB har nu skrivits för fjärde året i rad. Syftet med denna rapport är att utifrån innehållet i landstingens/regionernas PSB ge en bild av patientsäkerhetsarbetet inom svensk hälso- och sjukvård, under de fyra år som PSB har sammanställts. Granskning en är dels en granskning av innehållet i 2013 års PSB men också en sammanfattning av utvecklingen av patientsäkerhetsarbetet under verksamhetsåren 2010 till 2013, så som det beskrivs i PSB:erna. Innehållet har analyserats utifrån perspektiven struktur, process och resultat och jämförelser har gjorts över tid och mellan olika landsting/regioner. Liknande granskningar har tidigare gjorts vid två tillfällen och analyserna bygger på en tidigare utarbetad och testad modell i de tidigare granskningarna av landstingens/ regionernas PSB. En tydlig utveckling har skett över åren, både vad gäller beskrivningarna av patientsäkerhetsarbetet och vilka områden och resultat man vill lyfta fram. Granskningen visar att landstingen/regionerna har haft vägledning av de grundläggande och prestations - baserade krav som funnits för patientsäkerhetsarbetet i den överenskommelse som träffats mellan staten och SKL. Man har också följt SKL:s mall för att skriva PSB. Detta har dock inte lett till någon större samstämmighet i vad som verkligen rapporteras utan har mer varit en likriktning av rapporternas struktur. M ånga variabler som tagits med i redovisningen beskrivs dessutom i ganska vaga ordalag. Överlag har standarden dock ökat och många PSB är innehållsrika och ger en bra översikt över hur patientsäkerhetsarbetet bedrivs och vad som återstår att göra. Jämfört med tidigare år har PSB 2013 fokuserat mer på resultat och egenkontroll. Tidigare berätta de man att man mäter och registrerar olika saker. Nu anger man också resultat från de olika mätningarna i en högre grad. Vidare har ledningens roll för att höja säkerheten börjat uppmärksamma, även om många också påpekar att ansvaret för att bedriva en säker vård i slutändan ligger hos enskilda medarbetare. Av sammanlagt 62 undersökta patientsäkerhetsvariabler som ingått i den landstingsvisa jämförelsen 2013 har täckningsgraden i snitt varit 67 %. Motsvarande, sett över hela tidsspannet 2010 - 2013, är 63 %. Landsting en/regionerna har redovisat olika stor andel av de undersökta variablerna, med en högsta andel på 75 % för Östergötland, räknat som ett genomsnitt över de fyra åren. Skillnaderna mellan landstingen/regionerna är dock inte stora och drygt hälften (11 st.) har ett resultat över 65 %. Ett fåtal mer blygsamma resultat har uppmätts där en slentrianmässig rapportering förekommer och där den relevant a information en är sparsam. Detta kan tyda på att man inte har integrerat PSB:n som ett instrument i patientsäkerhetsarbetet, utan har andra medel för att skapa struktur och översikt över arbetet. De allra flesta har dock sammanställt informativa och välstrukturerade rapporter. Mot bakgrund av den utveckling som skett av PSB:n, under en relativt kort tid, kan man förmoda att den kommer att fortsätta utvecklas i en pågående dynamisk process i många landsting/regioner och med tiden få en allt viktigare roll i arbetet för att åstadkomma en säkrare vård.

Introduction: Healthcare-associated infection (HAI) surveillance data can be used to estimate the scope, spread and location of infections, monitor trends, evaluate preventive efforts, and improve practices, policy and facility planning. In Sweden, national point prevalence surveys (PPS) have been conducted twice yearly in all county councils since 2008.

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify key obstacles concerning the HAI surveillance process.

Methods: Twenty-two infection control practitioners (ICPs) from all county councils in Sweden were interviewed, using semi-structured interview guides. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

Results: Sixteen types of obstacles pertaining to four surveillance stages were identified. Most obstacles were associated with the first two stages, which meant that the latter stages of this process, i.e. the use of the results to reduce HAI, were underdeveloped. The ICPs observed scepticism towards both the PPS methodology itself and the quality of the HAI data collected in the PPS, which hinders HAI surveillance realising its full potential in Swedish healthcare.

Background: Sweden has undertaken many national, regional, and local initiatives to improve patient safety since the mid-2000s, but solid evidence of effectiveness for many solutions is often lacking. Nurses play a vital role in patient safety, constituting 71% of the workforce in Swedish health care. This interview study aimed to explore perceived facilitators and barriers influencing patient safety among nurses involved in the direct provision of care. Considering the importance of nurses with regard to patient safety, this knowledge could facilitate the development and implementation of better solutions.

Methods: A qualitative study with semi-structured individual interviews was carried out. The study population consisted of 12 registered nurses at general hospitals in Sweden. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Results: The nurses identified 22 factors that influenced patient safety within seven categories: ‘patient factors’, ‘individual staff factors’, ‘team factors’, ‘task and technology factors’, ‘work environment factors’, ‘organizational and management factors’, and ‘institutional context factors’. Twelve of the 22 factors functioned as both facilitators and barriers, six factors were perceived only as barriers, and four only as facilitators. There were no specific patterns showing that barriers or facilitators were more common in any category.

Conclusion: A broad range of factors are important for patient safety according to registered nurses working in general hospitals in Sweden. The nurses identified facilitators and barriers to improved patient safety at multiple system levels, indicating that complex multifaceted initiatives are required to address patient safety issues. This study encourages further research to achieve a more explicit understanding of the problems and solutions to patient safety.

Sverige fick en ny patientsäkerhetslag 2011 (PSL 2010:659) i syfte att göra vården säkrare. Bland annat ställer lagen krav på att vårdgivare sammanställer en Patientsäkerhetsberättelse (PSB) årligen. Förra året gjordes en första granskning av de PSB som skrevs för år 2010 samt 2011. Uppdraget var att beskriva och jämföra innehållet från landstingens och regionernas PSB för verksamhetsåren 2010 och 2011 utifrån perspektiven struktur, process och resultat. För detta ändamål utarbetades en utvärderingsmodell som använ des i arbetet.

Denna rapport bygger på den tidigare utarbetade och testade modellen och avser att ge en bild av patientsäkerhetsarbetet inom svensk hälso- och sjukvård med utgångspunkt i de PSB som vårdgivarna har sammanställt för år 2012 samt att göra en jämförelse med innehållet i tidigare PSB. Analysen har gjorts med kvantitativ innehållsanalys.

Granskningen visar att 2012 års PSB har högre täckningsgrad av variabler i jämförelse med 2010 och 2011. Resultatet visar att många variabler har tagits med i redovisningen men att det ibland inte är tydligt beskrivet vad som har gjorts eller vilka strukturer redovisningen faktiskt syftar på. Det är även tydligt att landstingen har haft vägledning av de grundläggande och prestationsbaserade krav som SKL haft uppställda för 2012 års patientsäkerhetsarbete utifrån överenskommelsen med regeringen, vilket även framkom i 2011 års PSB.

Av sammanlagt 52 undersökta patientsäkerhetsvariabler inom struktur (n=18 ), process (n=25) och resultat (n=9) som beskrivs fullständigt eller delvis i PSB år 2012, har olika landsting/regioner redovisat olika många möjliga variabler, med ett högsta värde av 44 av 52 och lägsta 28 av 52.

Konceptet PSB är unikt internationellt sett och ger en god bild av hur man arbetar med patientsäkerhetsfrågor i landstingen/regionerna, men det finns också en utvecklingspotential. Vi bedömer att PSB i dagsläget inte riktigt håller måttet för att utöva myndighetstillsyn då det fortfarande kan vara svårt att få en tydlig bild av vad som faktiskt görs inom olika landsting/regioner. PSB har blivit mer informativa 2012 än tidigare år men saknar enhetlighet vad gäller rapporterade variabler och rapporterade resultatmått. Ytterligare utveckling av SKL:s mall skulle kunna underlätta landstingens arbete med att sammanställa PSB och förbättra förutsättningarna för jämförelser mellan landsting/regioner och över tid.

Background: National, regional and local activities to improve patient safety in Sweden have increased over the last decade. There are high ambitions for improved patient safety in Sweden. This study surveyed health care professionals who held key positions in their county council’s patient safety work to investigate their perceptions of the conditions for this work, factors they believe have been most important in reaching the current level of patient safety and factors they believe would be most important for achieving improved patient safety in the future.

Methods: The study population consisted of 218 health care professionals holding strategic positions in patient safety work in Swedish county councils. Using a questionnaire, the following topics were analysed in this study: profession/occupation; number of years involved in a designated task on patient safety issues; knowledge/overview of the county council’s patient safety work; ability to influence this work; conditions for this work; and the importance of various factors for current and future levels of patient safety.

Results: The response rate to the questionnaire was 79%. The conditions that had the highest number of responses in complete agreement were “patients’ involvement is important for patient safety” and “patient safety work has good support from the county council’s management”. Factors that were considered most important for achieving the current level of patient safety were root cause and risk analyses, incident reporting and the Swedish Patient Safety Law. An organizational culture that encourages reporting and avoids blame was considered most important for improved patient safety in the future, closely followed by improved communication between health care practitioners and patients.

Conclusion: Health care professionals with important positions in the Swedish county councils’ patient safety work believe that conditions for this work are somewhat constrained. They attribute the current levels of patient safety to a broad range of factors and believe that many different solutions can contribute to enhanced patient safety in the future, suggesting that this work must be multifactorial.