Patient Safety Education for Residents.

Background:

Research has revealed that lack of work experience among medical residents increases the risk for unsafe situations for patients. Residents are often considered a weak link in the care process. Education of residents can provide a structural contribution to patient safety. Therefore, we have developed a curriculum for residents in order to enable them to acquire knowledge and skills to recognise unsafe situations during their work in an early stage and to act properly to ensure patient safety. Aim of this study is to measure the effectiveness of this patient safety curriculum for residents (both in-training and not-yet-in-training for specialist) who are working at the Medical Centre Alkmaar, a hospital in Alkmaar, the Netherlands.



Methods:

Two separate groups of residents attend the (identical) patient safety curriculum (total n=50). Questionnaires are distributed to measure attitudes, intentions and behaviour of the respondents. Before the course starts, straight after the course, as well as six months after the first course meeting, the residents are asked to fill out the questionnaires. Residents working in the Kennemer Gasthuis, a hospital in Haarlem, the Netherlands, are asked to cooperate within the control group for this study. This means that they are filling out the questionnaires at the same three moments, but they do not (yet) receive a specific patient safety course.

N/A

Three assessment points: m1: 0 months, m2: 3 months, m3: 6 months.

Patient Safety course: 1 plenary day followed by two half-day meetings.