MedSTEP NL, NLPB’s standardized continuous quality improvement (CQI) and medication incident reporting (MIR) program for community pharmacies was launched in Fall 2023. As part of the program rollout, NLPB partnered with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada to administer a Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) to community pharmacies throughout the province to gather a baseline for the safety climate. The SAQ is an evidence-based tool that explores the safety culture within work environments and will be used to evaluate the advancement and maturity of the culture of safety within community pharmacies in Newfoundland and Labrador with the implementation of MedSTEP NL and other medication safety initiatives.
The survey was sent directly to all registered pharmacy professionals working in community pharmacies in the province (607 pharmacists and 115 pharmacy technicians). They were invited to share the link with non-registered support staff. A total of 99 complete responses were collected over a six-week period from pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other pharmacy staff, representing a 13% response rate from registered pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is of note that pharmacists account for nearly 80% of respondents, which may cause the views of pharmacy technicians and other pharmacy staff to be under-represented.
The SAQ that NLPB administered was comprised of questions adapted from other validated tools and included 24 items ranked on a 5-point scale from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5), as well as comment fields to provide additional insight into their responses. The questions were divided into three domains that influence safety culture: Teamwork, Safety Culture, and Working Conditions. For a breakdown of the results of the survey, please view the full report.
An Assessment of Safety Attitudes in Newfoundland and Labrador Community Pharmacies – 2023 Edition
