Green Cross method in a postanaesthesia care unit: a qualitative study of the healthcare professionals’ experiences after 3 years, including the COVID-19 pandemic period

Objectives Unsafe medical care causes morbidity and mortality among the hospital patients. In a postanaesthesia care unit (PACU), increasing patient safety is a joint effort between different professions. The Green Cross (GC) method is a user-friendly incident reporting method that incorporates dail...

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Main Authors: Anne Karin Lindahl, Randi Ballangrud, Gørill Helen Birkeli, Hilde Kristin Jacobsen, Ellen Catharina Tveter Deilkas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2023-06-01
Series:BMJ Open Quality
Online Access:https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/12/2/e002247.full
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author Anne Karin Lindahl
Randi Ballangrud
Gørill Helen Birkeli
Hilde Kristin Jacobsen
Ellen Catharina Tveter Deilkas
author_facet Anne Karin Lindahl
Randi Ballangrud
Gørill Helen Birkeli
Hilde Kristin Jacobsen
Ellen Catharina Tveter Deilkas
author_sort Anne Karin Lindahl
collection DOAJ
description Objectives Unsafe medical care causes morbidity and mortality among the hospital patients. In a postanaesthesia care unit (PACU), increasing patient safety is a joint effort between different professions. The Green Cross (GC) method is a user-friendly incident reporting method that incorporates daily safety briefings to support healthcare professionals in their daily patient safety work. Thus, this study aimed to describe healthcare professionals’ experiences with the GC method in a PACU setting 3 years after its implementation, including the period of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic’s three waves.Design An inductive, descriptive qualitative study was conducted. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.Setting The study was conducted at a PACU of a university hospital in South-Eastern Norway.Participants Five semistructured focus group interviews were conducted in March and April 2022. The informants (n=23) were PACU nurses (n=18) and collaborative healthcare professionals (n=5) including physicians, nurses and a pharmacist.Results The theme ‘still active, but in need of revitalisation’ was created, describing the healthcare professionals’ experiences with the GC method, 3 years post implementation. The following five categories were found: ‘continuing to facilitate open communication’, ‘expressing a desire for more interprofessional collaboration regarding improvements’, ‘increasing reluctance to report’, ‘downscaling due to the pandemic’ and ‘expressing a desire to share more of what went well’.Conclusions This study offers information regarding the healthcare professionals’ experiences with the GC method in a PACU setting; further, it deepens the understanding of the daily patient safety work using this incident reporting method.
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spelling doaj-art-b9b5ee233b64458fa7073ec80068eae22025-08-20T01:58:44ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open Quality2399-66412023-06-0112210.1136/bmjoq-2022-002247Green Cross method in a postanaesthesia care unit: a qualitative study of the healthcare professionals’ experiences after 3 years, including the COVID-19 pandemic periodAnne Karin Lindahl0Randi Ballangrud1Gørill Helen Birkeli2Hilde Kristin Jacobsen3Ellen Catharina Tveter Deilkas4Institute of Health and Society, Department of Health Management and Health Economics, University of Oslo Faculty of Medicine, Oslo, NorwayFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Health Sciences in Gjøvik, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Gjøvik, NorwayDivision of Surgery, Akershus University Hospital, Nordbyhagen, NorwayInstitute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Behavioural Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayHealth Services Research Unit, Akershus University Hospital, Lorenskog, NorwayObjectives Unsafe medical care causes morbidity and mortality among the hospital patients. In a postanaesthesia care unit (PACU), increasing patient safety is a joint effort between different professions. The Green Cross (GC) method is a user-friendly incident reporting method that incorporates daily safety briefings to support healthcare professionals in their daily patient safety work. Thus, this study aimed to describe healthcare professionals’ experiences with the GC method in a PACU setting 3 years after its implementation, including the period of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic’s three waves.Design An inductive, descriptive qualitative study was conducted. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.Setting The study was conducted at a PACU of a university hospital in South-Eastern Norway.Participants Five semistructured focus group interviews were conducted in March and April 2022. The informants (n=23) were PACU nurses (n=18) and collaborative healthcare professionals (n=5) including physicians, nurses and a pharmacist.Results The theme ‘still active, but in need of revitalisation’ was created, describing the healthcare professionals’ experiences with the GC method, 3 years post implementation. The following five categories were found: ‘continuing to facilitate open communication’, ‘expressing a desire for more interprofessional collaboration regarding improvements’, ‘increasing reluctance to report’, ‘downscaling due to the pandemic’ and ‘expressing a desire to share more of what went well’.Conclusions This study offers information regarding the healthcare professionals’ experiences with the GC method in a PACU setting; further, it deepens the understanding of the daily patient safety work using this incident reporting method.https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/12/2/e002247.full
spellingShingle Anne Karin Lindahl
Randi Ballangrud
Gørill Helen Birkeli
Hilde Kristin Jacobsen
Ellen Catharina Tveter Deilkas
Green Cross method in a postanaesthesia care unit: a qualitative study of the healthcare professionals’ experiences after 3 years, including the COVID-19 pandemic period
BMJ Open Quality
title Green Cross method in a postanaesthesia care unit: a qualitative study of the healthcare professionals’ experiences after 3 years, including the COVID-19 pandemic period
title_full Green Cross method in a postanaesthesia care unit: a qualitative study of the healthcare professionals’ experiences after 3 years, including the COVID-19 pandemic period
title_fullStr Green Cross method in a postanaesthesia care unit: a qualitative study of the healthcare professionals’ experiences after 3 years, including the COVID-19 pandemic period
title_full_unstemmed Green Cross method in a postanaesthesia care unit: a qualitative study of the healthcare professionals’ experiences after 3 years, including the COVID-19 pandemic period
title_short Green Cross method in a postanaesthesia care unit: a qualitative study of the healthcare professionals’ experiences after 3 years, including the COVID-19 pandemic period
title_sort green cross method in a postanaesthesia care unit a qualitative study of the healthcare professionals experiences after 3 years including the covid 19 pandemic period
url https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/12/2/e002247.full
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