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To explore nurse-midwives' perceptions of safety culture in maternity hospitals.
A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted using focus groups and reported following the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research.
Data were obtained through two online focus group sessions in June 2022 with 13 nurse-midwives from two maternity hospitals in the central region of Portugal. The first focus group comprised 6 nurse-midwives, and the second comprised 7 nurse-midwives. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis.
Two main themes emerged from the data: (i) barriers to promoting a safety culture; (ii) safety culture promotion strategies. The first theme is supported by four categories: ineffective communication, unproductive management, instability in teams and the problem of errors in care delivery. The second theme is supported by two categories: managers' commitment to safety and the promotion of effective communication.
The study results show that the safety culture in maternity hospitals is compromised by ineffective communication, team instability, insufficient allocation of nurse-midwives, a prevailing punitive culture and underreporting of adverse events. These highlight the need for managers to commit to providing better working conditions, encourage training with the development of a fairer safety culture and encourage reporting and learning from mistakes. There is also a need to invest in team leaders who allow better conflict management and optimization of communication skills is essential.
Disseminating these results will provide relevance to the safety culture problem, allowing greater awareness of nurse-midwives and managers about vulnerable areas, and lead to the implementation of effective changes for safe maternal and neonatal care.
There was no patient or public contribution as the study only concerned service providers, that is, nurse-midwives themselves.
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