Perceptions of Healthcare Safety Are Mixed: Report

While violence rises in healthcare facilities, people have mixed feelings about the facilities’ overall safety, according to a Press Ganey report.

Press Ganey recently released its “Safety in Healthcare 2024” report, which examines various aspects of safety in healthcare. The report found positive trends in safety outcomes and outpatient perceptions but noted concerns about low safety perceptions among staff and inpatients. Reports of violence against nurses are increasing.

Among the report’s key findings are these:

• Patients feel safer in clinics and medical offices compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic but feel less safe in hospitals. In 2023, 81.9 percent of patients in clinics felt very safe, but only 68.5 percent of hospital patients felt the same — a decrease of 5.1 percent.
• Workplace safety is improving after reaching record lows in 2021. Employees feel more confident about safety within their organizations, like having enough staff and being able to report mistakes without fear. But almost one-half of employees — especially nurses — still do not feel very safe compared to senior management.
• The number of reported assaults against nurses rose by 5 percent in 2023 compared to 2022. This increase might mean more incidents are being reported, but there were still a significant number of assaults, averaging around 1.89 per hour last year.
• Safety in healthcare is improving overall. Infections related to catheters, ventilators, central lines and hospital-acquired pressure injuries are all lower than they were before the pandemic.

Jeff Wardon, Jr. is the assistant editor for the facilities market.