Situational Analysis of the Risk Management of the Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic at Songklanagarind Hospital

Abstract

A risk management is an important tool for sustainable organizational development. The objective of this qualitative research was to analyze risk management at Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) clinics, Songklanagarind Hospital.  The target population was: 1) 10 ENT physicians working in a patient care team, 2) four registered nurses, 3) 12 practical nurses and nursing assistants, and 4) five auditory laboratory staff. Researchers collected data using focus group discussions about risk management and document analysis of related documents and written incident record. Documents which met the inclusion criteria of being related to risk management, such as incident report reviews, and having been produced between 2018 and 2020, were included in the sample. The validity of the focus group discussion guidelines was assessed by three experts. The guideline’s index of item objective congruence was 1.0. The data were analyzed using content analysis. The results revealed three aspects of risk management: the structure, process, and outcomes.  Regarding the structural aspect, most staff have knowledge about and the ability to perform risk management, as well as understanding and being aware patients’ risks. Regarding process aspect, the clinic personnel followed all five steps of risk management. Finally, with regard to the outcome aspect, there were a total of 60 incidents reported during three-year periods (2018-2020) analyzed. Nursing administrators can use the research results to develop an effective risk management model by increasing the number of workers to be suitable for the workload, improving the staff’s incident reporting skills via computer, increasing communication channels among the working teams, and developing a risk management manual to ensure consistent application of the system.