Patient safety culture as perceived by operating room professionals: a mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: Routine assessments of patient safety culture within hospitals have been widely recommended to improve patient safety. Experts suggested that mixed-methods studies can help gain a deeper understanding of the concept. However, studies combining quantitative and qualitative approaches exploring patient safety culture are still lacking. This study aimed to explore patient safety culture as perceived by operating room professionals of two university hospitals in Sousse, Tunisia. METHODS: Based on a mixed-methods approach, a cross-sectional survey followed by semi-structured interviews were conducted over a period of two months (December 2019 to January 2020). This study took place in all the operating rooms of two public university hospitals in the district of Sousse, Tunisia. To collect data for this survey, the French version of the Hospital Survey On Patient Safety Culture was used. For interviews, 13 participants were selected purposively using a critical case sampling approach and a topic guide was prepared. Anonymity and confidentiality were respected. RESULTS: Overall, twelve operating rooms, with different surgical specialties, were included in the study. Survey feedback was provided by 297 professionals representing a response rate of 85.6%. Concerning patient safety culture, the 10 dimensions had low scores (below 50%) and were considered "to be improved". The highest score was found in 'teamwork within units' (45%). Whereas, the lowest scores were allocated to 'non-punitive response to error' (22.9%), followed by "frequency of adverse event reported" (25.6%) and "communication openness" (26.3%). Per qualitative data, participants provided a more detailed picture of patient safety issues such as underreporting, absence of an effective reporting system, lack of freedom of expression, and an existing blame culture in operating rooms. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study showed a concerning perception held by participants about the lack of a patient safety culture in their operating rooms. It seems essential to design, implement and evaluate strategies that promote a positive patient safety culture and obliterate punitive climate in operating rooms.

Assessing patient safety culture in 15 intensive care units: a mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: Within hospitals, intensive care units (ICUs) are particularly high-risk areas for medical errors and adverse events that could occur due to the complexity of care and the patients' fragile medical conditions. Assessing patient safety culture (PSC) is essential to have a broad view on patient safety issues, to orientate future improvement actions and optimize quality of care and patient safety outcomes. This study aimed at assessing PSC in 15 Tunisian ICUs using mixed methods approach. METHODS: A cross-sectional mixed methods approach using a sequential explanatory design was conducted from December 2019 to January 2020. The first quantitative stage was conducted in 15 ICUs belonging to the two university hospitals in the region of Sousse (Tunisia). All the 344 healthcare professionals (clinical staff) working for more than 1 month in these ICUs were contacted in order to take part in the study. In the second qualitative stage 12 participants were interviewed based on purposive sampling. RESULTS: All of the PSC dimensions had a score of less than 50%. The developed dimension was 'teamwork within units' (48.8%). The less developed dimensions were 'frequency of event reporting' (20.8%), 'communication openness' (22.2%) and 'non-punitive response to error' (19.7%). Interviews' thematic analysis revealed four main themes including "Hospital management/system failure", "Teamwork and communication", "Error management" and "Working conditions". CONCLUSION: This research revealed that PSC is still in need of improvement and provided a clearer picture of the patient safety issues that require specific attention. Improving PSC through the use of quality management and error reporting systems may help to improve patient safety outcomes.

Predictors of evidence-based practice competency among Tunisian nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based practice (EBP) is an important competency of undergraduate nursing students which should be cultivated before graduation by increasing future healthcare providers' knowledge, skills and attitudes towards EBP. This study aimed to describe nursing students' competencies (attitudes, knowledge, skills) in Evidence-based practice (EBP) and to determine factors predicting EBP competency. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Higher School of Health Sciences and Techniques of Sousse (Tunisia) among 365 nursing students. Data were collected using the validated Evidence Based Practice Competencies Questionnaire (EBP-COQ). Multiple linear regression was performed to determine factors predicting EBP competencies. RESULTS: The overall score of EBP-COQ questionnaire was 3.26 ± 0.53 out of 5. The attitude, skills and knowledge subscales received 4.04 ± 0.41; 3.05 ± 0.77 and 2.70 ± 0.74 as mean scores respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis (table 4) revealed that significant related factors were academic level (ß = 0.271, p = 0.001), English-language reading skills (ß = 0.435, p < 0.001), facing staff resistance in implementing a new evidence-based procedure (ß = - 0.081, p = 0.035) difficulties in obtaining full-text papers (ß = - 0.127, p < 0.001) and training in methodology (ß = 0.232, p < 0.001) and also in statistics (ß = 0.205, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These results help to understand students' attitudes, knowledge and skills in EBP and can be therefore a starting point to develop effective strategies for EBP curricula.

Evaluation of the Impact of Intraoperative Distractions on Teamwork, Stress, and Workload.

BACKGROUND: Within the operating rooms (ORs), distractions occur on a regular basis, which affect the surgical workflow and results in the interruption of urgent tasks. This study aimed to observe the occurrence of intraoperative distractions in Tunisian ORs and evaluate associations among distractions, teamwork, workload, and stress. METHODS: This observational cross-sectional study was conducted in four different ORs (orthopedic, urology, emergency, and digestive surgery) of Sahloul University Hospital for a period of 3 mo in 2018. Distractions and teamwork were recorded and rated in real time during the intraoperative phase of each case using validated observation sheets. Besides, at the end of each operation, stress and workload of team members were measured. RESULTS: Altogether, 50 cases were observed and 160 participants were included. Distractions happened in 100% of the included operations. Overall, we recorded 933 distractions that occurred once every 3 min, with a mean frequency of M = 18.66 (standard deviation [SD] = 8.24) per case. It is particularly noticeable that procedural distractions occurred significantly higher during teaching cases compared with nonteaching cases (M = 3.85, M = 0.60, respectively, P < 0.001). The mean global teamwork score was M = 3.85 (SD = 0.67), the mean workload score was M = 58.60 (SD = 24.27), and the mean stress score was M = 15.29 (SD = 4.00). Furthermore, a higher stress level among surgeons was associated with distractions related to equipment failures and people entering or exiting the OR (r = 0.206, P < 0.01 and r = 0.137, P < 0.01, respectively). Similarly, nurses reported a higher workload in the presence of distractions related to the work environment in the OR (r = 0.313, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted a serious problem, which often team members seem to ignore or underestimate. Taking our findings into consideration, we recommend the implementation of the Surgical Checklist and preoperative briefings to reduce the number of surgical distractions. Also, a continuous teamwork training should be adopted to ensure that OR staff can avoid or handle distractions when they happen.

Prevalence of burnout among health sciences students and determination of its associated factors.

Burnout is a major issue among healthcare students and a public health issue in general. Indeed, the consequences of student burnout are as complex as other mental distress factors, such as those concerned with smoking and alcohol consumption, or an unhealthy lifestyle.  This study aimed to determine the prevalence of burnout among health sciences students and to determine its associated factors. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted among 368 students of a Tunisian institution using the French validated version of the MBI-SS. The prevalence of burnout was 64.4%. The presence of a diagnosed health problem, a diagnosed mental disorder or sleep problems were associated with burnout. Students who live alone are significantly the most emotionally exhausted (p=0.010) and the most cynical (p=0.033). Students who had a low socio-economic level are significantly more cynical than those who had a medium or high socio-economic level (p=0.032). Performing leisure activities and practicing physical activities were associated with emotional exhaustion (p=0.007, p= 0.008, respectively).In our study, burnout is prevalent among Tunisian health sciences students. Many factors were found to be associated with this syndrome. These findings reinforce the need to establish early preventive strategies to encounter this problem and its consequent risks.

A baseline assessment of patient safety culture and its associated factors from the perspective of critical care nurses: Results from 10 hospitals.

INTRODUCTION: Critical care nurses are considered the key to patient safety improvement and play a vital role in enhancing quality of care in intensive care units (ICUs) where adverse events are frequent and have severe consequences. Moreover, there is recognition of the importance of the assessment and the development of patient safety culture (PSC) as a strategic focus for the improvement of patient safety and healthcare quality, notably in critical care settings. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess critical care nurses' perception of PSC and to determine its associated factors. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses working in the ICUs of the Tunisian centre (six Tunisian governorates). The study instrument was the French validated version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture questionnaire, comprising 10 dimensions and a total of 50 items. RESULTS: A total of 249 nurses from 18 ICUs participated in the study, with a participation rate of 87.36%. The dimensions scores ranged between 17.2% for the dimension "frequency of events reported" and 50.1% for the dimension "teamwork within units". Multivariable logistic regression indicated that respondents who worked in private hospitals were five times more likely to have a developed PSC (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 5.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], [2.28, 12.51]; p < 10-3). Similarly, participants who worked in a certified hospital were two times more likely to have a more developed PSC than respondents who work in noncertified hospitals (AOR: 2.51; 95% CI, [.92-6.82]; p = 0.041). In addition, an increased nurse-per-patient ratio (i.e., reduced workload) increased PSC (AOR: 1.10; 95% CI, [1.02-1.12]; p = 0.018). CONCLUSION: This study has shown that the state of critical care nurses' PSC is critically low and these baseline results can help to form a plan of actions for improvements.

Effect of Family Empowerment Education on Pulmonary Function and Quality of Life of Children With Asthma and Their Parents in Tunisia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PURPOSE: Patient education is fundamental in asthma management, especially at pediatric age. It is increasingly recognized as effective in reducing the burden of the disease, but is less clear in improving the quality of life of children with asthma and their parents. This study assessed the effect of an asthma therapeutic education program on pulmonary function and quality of life in children with asthma and their parents. DESIGN AND METHODS: A monocentric randomized controlled trial conducted in Farhat Hached University Hospital of Sousse (Tunisia) from May 2018 to September 2019. Thirty-seven families in the experimental group and 39 families in the control group received allocated intervention at baseline. Thirty-four families in each group completed the study at the 12-month follow-up. RESULTS: The intervention significantly improved quality of life scores of children and their parents (all p < 0.05). Children in the experimental group had significantly better forced expiratory maneuver than children in the control group. Nonetheless, the FEV1/FVC ratio did not show any significant difference in the experimental and control group (p = 0.9; p = 0.14, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that a long-term family-based asthma education program resulted in better pulmonary function and QOL of children and parents enrolled in the intervention group, particularly children with non-allergic asthma. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Family-based asthma education can reduce the burden of allergic and non-allergic asthma on children and their parents through improving their quality of life. Also, the pulmonary function of children with non-allergic asthma was improved due to My Asthma Therapeutic Education intervention.

Smoking and associated factors among school teenagers in the city of Sousse (Smoking and school teenagers).

BACKGROUND: Tobacco use among teenagers in an increasing concern for the international community, especially with the fact that early experimentation is now identified as a risk factor for durable consumption and addiction. AIM: To study Tobacco use and its determinants amongteenagers in the city of Sousse. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectionalstudy was carried out among a sample of teenagers enrolled in the city of Sousse (Tunisia) in 2016-2017. A two-stage sampling was conducted for the selection of adolescents. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire in Arabic language. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 330 students. The prevalence of smoking was 9.7%(95% CI6,7% ;13%), with a male predominance (14.4% vs 6.3%). The mean age of onset of tobacco was 14.65 ± 1.38 years. 44.8% of parents ignore their children's smoking. The mean dependence score was 4.77 ± 3.6 (HONC test).  Factors significantly associated with smoking were gender, age, educational level, repeating school years, relationship with parents and teachers, presence of smokers in the environment, knowledge about the health risks of tobacco. CONCLUSION: Sensitizationactions should be strengthened within schools, starting even in primary schools, in collaboration with teachers, family and health professionals. In addition, more effective and rigorous enforcement of legislation is essential.

Assessing patient safety culture in Tunisian operating rooms: A multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the patient safety culture (PSC) in operating rooms (ORs) and to determine influencing factors. DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive multicenter study which was conducted over a period of 7 months (October 2014-April 2015) using the French validated version of the Hospital Survey On Patient Safety Culture questionnaire. SETTING: Of the note, 15 ORs of public and private healthcare institutions. PARTICIPANTS: In total, there were 368 participants including surgeons, anesthesiologists, surgical and anesthesia technicians, nurses and caregivers, divided into 316 professionals exercising in public sector and 52 working in private one. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): A self-administrated questionnaire investigating 10 dimensions of PSC (including 45 items), two items examining the staff perception of patient safety quality and reporting events, and five items regarding demographic characteristics of respondents. RESULTS: The participation rate in the study was 70.8%. All 10 dimensions were to be improved. The overall perception of patient safety had a score of 34.9%. The dimension that had the lowest score (20.5%) was the non-punitive response to error, and the one that had the highest score (41.67%) was teamwork in the ORs. Three dimensions were developed in private sector, and none in public hospitals. CONCLUSION: This study showed that the level of the PSC needs to be improved not only in public hospitals but also in private ones. The obtained results highlight the importance of implementing quality management systems and developing PSC.

Associated outcomes to fetal macrosomia: effect of maternal diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Fetal macrosomia is associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes to both the mother and the infant. AIM: To determine maternal and neonatal outcomes associated to fetal macrosomia in diabetic and non- diabetic mothers. METHODS: It is a descriptive retrospective study conducted in Tunisia. We included in this study all patients who delivered newborns having a birth weight above 4kg during 2013. Multivariate analysis was performed using binary logistic regression to identify the complications associated to macrosomic pregnancies with diabetes. RESULTS: Among the 10186 deliveries registered during the study period, 821 mothers gave birth to macrosomic newborns. The prevalence of macrosomia was 8.1%, and macrosomic newborns who had a birth weight of 4500 g or greater were 1.06%. Macrosomia was significantly higher in males (p <10-3). The rate of cesarean delivery was 47.9%. The most frequent adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes were perineal tears (3.6%), post-partum hemorrhage (0.6%), shoulder dystocia (4.9%) and neonatal intensive care unit admission (7.6%).The proportion of maternal diabetes was 9.3%. Macrosomic pregnancies with diabetes appear to be significantly associated with cesarean delivery (OR=2.22), postpartum hemorrhage (OR=6.69) and neonatal intensive care unit admission (OR=4.18). CONCLUSION: Macrosomia increases the risk of maternal and perinatal morbidity particularly when it was associated to maternal diabetes.

[Mobile emergency care medical records audit: the need for Tunisian guidelines]. / Audit des dossiers patients d'un service mobile d'urgence et de réanimation : de l'utilité d'un référentiel tunisien.

Objective: This study was designed to assess the quality of the Gabès (Tunisia) mobile emergency care medical records and propose corrective actions.Materials and methods: A clinical audit was performed at the Gabès mobile emergency care unit (SMUR). Records of day, night and weekend primary and secondary interventions during the first half of 2014 were analysed according to a data collection grid comprising 56 criteria based on the SMUR guidelines and the 2013 French Society of Emergency Medicine evaluation guide. A non-conformance score was calculated for each section.Results: 415 medical records were analysed. The highest non-conformance rates (48.5%) concerned the "specificities of the emergency medical record" section. The lowest non-conformance rates concerned the surveillance data section (23.4%). The non-conformance score for the medical data audit was 24%.Conclusion: This audit identified minor dysfunctions that could be due to the absence of local guidelines concerning medical records in general and more specifically SMUR. Corrective measures were set up in the context of a short-term and intermediate-term action plan.

[Prevalence and associated factors of alcohol consumption among students of the Sousse region of Tunisia]. / Prévalence et facteurs associés à la consommation d'alcool chez les étudiants de Sousse, Tunisie.

Aim: This study was designed to assess the prevalence of alcohol consumption and factors associated with alcohol consumption among students of the Sousse region of Tunisia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 556 students of Sousse universities during the 2012-2013 academic year, using an anonymous self-report questionnaire. Data capture and statistical analysis were performed with SPSS software 18.0. Results: Our study population was composed of 268 males (48.2%) with a mean age of 21.8 ± 2.1 years. Eighty-four students (15.1%) had consumed alcohol at least once. On multivariate analysis, male gender (OR = 6.94; 95%CI = [2.32-20.72]), smoking (OR = 13.21; 95%CI = [6.20-27.78]), drug use (OR = 32.22; 95%CI = [6.73-154.26]) and parental alcohol consumption (OR = 4.31; 95%CI = [1.70-10.91]) were the factors significantly associated with alcohol consumption among students. Conclusion: This study was designed to determine the characteristics of alcohol consumption among Tunisian students. Alcohol consumption levels were comparable to those reported in the general population and were significantly related to smoking and drug use. The next step of this study will consist of developing strategies to prevent risk behaviours in the student population.

[Safety culture in Tunisian primary health care: A multicenter study]. / Culture de sécurité des soins dans les centres de soins primaires tunisiens?: une étude multicentrique.

AIMS: To assess safety culture in primary healthcare centres and to explore its associated factors. METHODS: This multicentre cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in the 30 primary healthcare centres in central Tunisia and used the validated French version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture questionnaire' (HSOPSC). RESULTS: A total of 214 professionals participated, corresponding to a response rate of 85%. The ?Teamwork within centres? dimension had the highest score (71.5%). However, two safety dimensions had very low scores: ?Frequency of event reporting?, ?Non-punitive response to errors? with percentages of 31.4% and 35.4%, respectively. Among the associated factors, the ?Frequency of reported events? dimension was significantly higher among professionals involved in risk management committees (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that the level of safety culture needs to be improved in primary healthcare centres in Tunisia and also highlights the need to implement a quality management system in primary healthcare centres.

Maternal Near Miss and Quality of Obstetric Care in a Tunisian Tertiary Level Maternity.

This study aimed to determine the frequency and the nature of maternal near miss (NM) events in a population of women attending a tertiary level maternity hospital in Tunisia and to evaluate the care level of this institution according to indicators proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). We opted for a retrospective medical chart review of cases of NM and maternal mortality that occurred in the year 2010 at the Farhat Hached Maternity University Hospital. NM cases were defined based on the WHO criteria 2009. There were 9957 deliveries, 58 NM events and one case of maternal death. Haemorrhagic (74.1%) and hypertensive disorders (20.7%) were the leading causes of NM. The study showed a low Maternal NM Ratio of 5.86/1000 live births, a relatively low mortality index of 1.7 % and Severe Maternal Outcome Ratio of 5.96/1000 live births. This was the first study to document NM in a Tunisian public maternity. The WHO approach allowed a systematic monitoring of quality of maternal health care. There is a low frequency of maternal morbidity and mortality at the level of this facility. But, more efforts are still needed to document NM events in other types of care facilities in Tunisia.

Prevalence of overweight in schools in the rural region of Hazoua (Tozeur).

Background Overweight in schools is a worrisome public health problem because they increase medium and long term risks of morbidity and mortality especially with an increased risk of persistence of obesity in adulthood. Aim To estimate the prevalence of overweight among school children and to identify its associated risk factors. Methods this is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among school students aged less than 18 years in the area of "Hazoua" (Tozeur). The references of BMI used for overweight and obesity are those of IOTF. The French BMI references are used to establish the prevalence of underweight. Data entry and analysis was performed using SPSS 20. Results Our sample included 445 students. The average BMI was 18.73±3.4 kg/m2. The prevalence of Underweight was 9.7%, while overweight and obesity have been reported among 6.7% of students. Overweight was significantly associated to gender and the practice of sport outside school. Conclusion Obesity in schools in the community of Hazoua is now lower than that reported in other studies. In contrast, we detected a problem of underweight, which deserves as much attention. Intervention programs should be established and whose objectives are to improve students' skills in terms of eating behavior and physical activity, these actions require collaboration at all levels.

[Determinants of paramedical staff motivation in a Tunisian hospital]. / Les facteurs de motivation au travail chez les cadres paramédicaux dans un hôpital tunisien.

The results of this study will help guide public hospital human resource managers in the choice of measures designed to increase the motivation of their employees in order to ensure staff satisfaction as well as quality health care services..

[Gyneco-obstetrical emergencies at the obstetrics and gynecology department of Sousse: epidemiological study and becoming of the consultants]. / Les urgences gynéco-obstétricales au service de gynécologie obstétrique de Sousse: étude épidémiologique et devenir des consultants.

Introduction: the objective of this work was to establish the clinical profile of patients consulting in gyneco-obstetrical emergencies and identify the reasons for consultation and the becoming of the consultants. Methods: a one-center retrospective descriptive observational study was performed including patients who consulted between January 1st and December 31st, 2018. Obstetric emergencies after 36 weeks of amenorrhea were not included. We drew lots 4 months of the year 2018 (one month per season). Then we drew lots 2 weeks of each month. A data collection sheet was developed for the purposes of this work. Results: a total of 2007 patients were included in our study among 15,553 gynecological emergency room consultants during 2018. We found that the largest number of consultants was recorded at the start of the week and between 7 am and 7 pm. The most frequently obstetric reasons observed for consultation were pelvic pain (39.6%), bleeding (23.8%) and vomiting (8.7%). The most frequently gynecological reasons for consultation were pelvic pain (54.2%), then metrorrhagia (18.8%) and mastodynia (7.1%). Of the study participants, 66.82% received an ultrasound, 23% received a beta HCG test. The majority of emergency room consultants were referred to their home. Conclusion: the majority of patients visiting the emergency room do not have any emergency-related pathologies.

Psychometric properties of a French version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy.

Objective: To assess the reliability and construct validity of a French version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed among undergraduate medical students in Tunisia. A total of 833 students completed a French version of the JSE-S using convenience sampling. To identify the internal consistency aspect of the reliability, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was computed. Moreover, to assess the construct validity, the sample was randomly divided into two groups. Data from the first group (n=415) were subjected to exploratory factor analysis (EFA), with principal axing factoring (PAF) and oblimin rotation, to re-examine the underlying factor structure of the scale. Data from the second group (n=419) were used for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to confirm its latent variable structure. Some goodness-of-fit indices were used to assess the hypothesized model. Gender groups were compared using a t-test to check the known-group validity. Results: Reliability analysis reported an acceptable level of internal consistency, with an overall Cronbach's alpha of 0.78 (95% CI [0.75,0.80]). EFA identified a two-factor structure, accounting for 27.4% of the total variance. The two-factor model produced good fit indices when item correlated errors were considered (χ2/df = 1.95, GFI = 0.92, CFI = 0.90, PCFI = 0.79, PGFI = 0.73 and RMSEA = 0.04). Female students had a statistically significant higher empathy scores than male students (t (830) = - 4.16, p < .001). Conclusions: The findings support the construct validity and reliability of a French version of the JSE for medical students. This instrument appears to be useful for investigating empathy among French-speaking populations.

An Intervention to Optimize Attitudes Toward Adverse Events Reporting Among Tunisian Critical Care Nurses.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at evaluating the impact of a combined-strategies intervention on ICUs nurses' attitudes toward AE reporting. METHODS: We conducted a quasi-experimental study from January to October 2020 which consisted of an intervention to improve attitudes toward incident reporting among nurses working in 10 intensive care units at a university hospital using the Reporting of Clinical Adverse Events Scale. The intervention consisted of a 2-hour educational presentation for nurse unit managers and a 30-minute in-units educational training for intensive care unit nurses, which encompassed technical aspects of reporting, the reporting process, a nonpunitive environment, and the importance of submitting reports. The educational presentation was reinforced with distributing posters and brochures and biweekly patient safety rounds that inquired about events, reinforced education, and provided follow-up to incident reports. RESULTS: All dimensions were significantly improved. Score increased from 27.4% to 42.1% ( P < 0.01) for perceived blame, from 35.2% to 52.5% for perceived criteria for identifying events that should be reported ( P < 0.01), from 34.3% to 46% for perceptions of colleagues' expectations ( P = 0.04), from 37.1% to 51.4% for perceived benefits of reporting ( P = 0.01), and from 29.2% to 51.4% for perceived clarity of reporting procedures ( P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Interventions using a combination of several strategies such as training, safety round, and messaging can be effective and should be considered by hospitals attempting to increase adverse events reporting. Results reinforce the assumption that a nonpunitive environment and the resulting feeling of safety and reassurance are crucial to foster the submission of reports.

Assessing the impact of a family empowerment program on asthma control and medication use in children with asthma: A randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: In pediatric asthma, family empowerment education has been beneficial for the quality of life, pulmonary function, and family functioning. Few studies addressed the impact of a family empowerment program on asthma symptom control, acute healthcare use (AHCU), and medication use in children with asthma. This study aimed to assess the effect of a family empowerment intervention on asthma symptom control, AHCU, inhaler technique, and controller adherence in children with asthma. DESIGN AND METHODS: A single-center study using a randomized controlled design was conducted in a university hospital in the center of Tunisia from May 2018 to September 2019. Eighty-two families were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 41) of 8 weeks of group training sessions, or to the control group (n = 41) of usual care education. Thirty-seven families in the intervention group and 39 families in the control group received allocated intervention at baseline. Thirty-four families in each group completed the study at the 12-month follow-up. RESULTS: At baseline, the intervention and control groups were statistically comparable (p > .05). At follow-up, there were significant differences between the intervention and the control group in asthma symptom control, χ2 (1, N = 34) = 9.950, p = .002, and inhalation technique, χ2 (1, N = 34) = 5.916, p = .01. For AHCU and adherence to asthma controller, there was no significant difference between groups, χ2 (1, N = 34) = 3.219, p = .07, χ2 (1, N = 34) = 0.541, p = .46, respectively. The difference within time in asthma symptom control and inhalation technique was significant (p = 10-3 , p = .001; respectively). PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This study demonstrated that a family empowerment program significantly improved asthma symptom control and inhaler technique in children with asthma aged 7-17 years. This intervention could be clinically useful and time-saving for pediatric nurses.