Are US pharmacy schools producing healthcare professionals that will uphold a culture of safety?

Kobylinski AL. Are US pharmacy schools producing healthcare professionals that will uphold a culture of safety? Paper presented at: Great Lakes Pharmacy Resident Annual Conference; 2012 Apr 25; West Lafayette, IN.

The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) emphasizes patient safety as a goal for the doctor of pharmacy curriculum in the current revision to their accreditation standards. A recent report provided a baseline evaluation of the integration of the 'science of safety' into the curricula of US colleges and schools of pharmacy. According to the report, no clear educational objectives for medication safety have been established for students by the pharmacy profession. The report revealed one of the likely gaps in safety education as a lack of student acceptance of a "culture of safety". Recommendations provided by the report included a call for studies to assess safety competencies that are being achieved by pharmacy students in order to gain a better understanding of the gaps in knowledge. Purpose: To assess baseline patient safety attitudes among graduating student pharmacists. Methods: A cross-sectional, online survey will be conducted with pharmacy students in their final professional year at US Colleges of Pharmacy. The survey will use a modified safety attitudes questionnaire (SAQ) which consists of ten items utilizing a five point Likert-type scale. Items on the survey assess teamwork and safety climate. Demographic information that will be collected in the survey includes: gender, age, completion of prior safety coursework and/or training, and previous pharmacy work experience. Respondents are also invited to provide additional open-ended comments at the end of the survey regarding their training and perspectives on safety. A modified Dillman method will be used for survey distribution inclusive of five points of contact during a two week period (pre-survey notification, initial survey request, follow-up reminder, second survey request, and final reminder). Survey data analysis will be summarized using descriptive statistics. Relationships between safety attitude scores and demographics will be evaluated using chi-square. Results/Conclusion: To be presented at the Great Lakes Pharmacy Resident Conference. Learning Objectives: Describe safety attitudes questionnaire (SAQ) as a measurement tool. Recognize the importance of integrating pharmacy students into a culture of safety.