Assessing Safety Status of Pediatric Intensive Care Units of Tehran, Iran according to the World Health Organization’s Safety Standards

Given that children in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) are more vulnerable to safety risks, health care officials are required to identify the weaknesses and strengths of care and ensure the safety of these children. In this study, the safety status in PICUs of selected educational children’s hospitals in Tehran, Iran, was examined and compared with standards proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

In this descriptive study, the performance of nurses with a bachelor’s degree or higher and minimum work experience of six months in the PICU was examined. The study environment included four selected educational hospitals located in Tehran, Iran. Data collection tools were eight safety observation checklists based on the safety standards of WHO. Data collection took five months and the nurses’ performance was categorized into three groups of undesirable, relatively desirable, and desirable. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 13, descriptive statistics, and regression analysis.

Consistency of nursing care for the safety of hospitalized children was found undesirable in hand hygiene in accordance with the WHO standards. Nurses’ performance was relatively desirable in the fields of being more cautious about drugs with similar names or spelling to avoid medication errors, communication during patient hand-over, and performance of correct procedure at correct body site. Regarding other fields, the consistency was at a desirable level.

Children’s safety in the PICUs is not desirable in terms of observing health codes and there is a long way to go to meet the international standards.