Exploring the Nurse's Perception of Patient Safety in Psychiatric Wards: A Qualitative Study

In the psychiatric wards, numerous and diverse safety events occur for patients, leading to adverse physical and psychological consequences. The present study aimed at investigating nurses’ experience of patient safety in these wards.
This was a qualitative research based on conventional content analysis and inductive method. Thus, 19 nurses were selected from Razi psychiatric center, Shafa, and Atieh center using purposive sampling. Data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews.
According to continuous analysis and comparison of data, nurses’ perceptions of patient safety were identified and they included a theme of ‘‘inconvenient patients-potential risk creators’’ and three categories: patient high-risk behaviors, unsafe space, and unwanted risks. Each category had several different sub-categories.
Given the nature of mental illness and taking into account the role of patients in safety events, care for patient safety in psychiatric wards is a diverse and multi-faceted topic. Applying an appropriate and adequate number of nursing staff, creating knowledge and readiness for nurses, and using appropriate facilities for improving patient safety in these wards is essential.