The blame game- experiences of female residents in obstetrics & gynecology regarding lapses in patient safety.

OBJECTIVES

Primary objective was to explore experiences of female residents of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) regarding lapses in patient safety (PS) while secondary objective was to explore factors hampering or favouring improvement of PS in OB/GYN.

METHODS

In this qualitative narrative study carried out in OB/GYN department of Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Lahore for six months from 1 April to 30 September 2021, six fourth-year residents were asked to write narratives of their personal experiences of medical error (witnessed or committed) in detail and reflect on those experiences, which were then transcribed. Code labels and themes were assigned manually. Interpretation of these themes was done after thematic content analysis.

RESULTS

Six, fourth-year female residents with a mean age of 28.6±1.8 participated in the study. Two main themes with sub-themes were identified: 1) Challenges in patient safety (Personal challenges, Workplace challenges, Barriers to PS), 2) Lessons learnt from experiences (Self-improvement and; Promotion of patient safety culture). Heavy workload with long working hours, lack of communication and teamwork, lack of experience and inadequate supervision were major factors involved in PS lapses experienced by residents.

CONCLUSION

Incidents of Patient Safety (PS) lapses had a strong impact on the emotional and professional life of residents. Formal PS training with improvement of working conditions may help promote PS culture.