Patient safety awareness among 309 surgeons in Enugu, Nigeria: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND: Adverse healthcare events are major public health problem with the heaviest burden in the low and middle-income countries. Patient safety awareness among healthcare professionals is known to impact this outcome; thus we set out to appraise the patient safety awareness among surgeons in Enugu, Nigeria. METHODS: A multi-institutional cross-sectional survey was carried out among surgeons in Enugu, Nigeria and data obtained were analyzed using the statistical package for scientific solutions (SPSS) version 20 software. RESULTS: A total of 309 surgeons were surveyed. Majority of the surgeons (51.9%) had poor perception of patient safety issues. One hundred and twenty respondents (38.8%) have awareness of any institutional protocol for preventing wrong-site surgery while only 35 respondents (11.3%) regularly practiced an institutional protocol for preventing wrong-site surgery. The professional status of the surgeons and years in service showed significant association with perception of patient safety issues. CONCLUSION: The patient safety awareness and practice among the surgeons in Enugu, Nigeria is apparently low and this was found to be influenced by the professional status and years in service of the surgeon.