Consumer Perspectives on PICU Safety and Quality.
Karina R Charles, Debbie A Long, Anna Lake and 7 others
PMID 41622432WHAT IT FOUND
Families ranked nurse staffing on shift, visible patient goals, medication complications, long-term disability follow-up and bloodstream infection as top PICU safety measures.
They also wanted bedside handover and clearer communication after mistakes.
Key findings
01The top five parent/caregiver priorities for safety measurement were number of nurses on shift (49%), visible patient goals (44%), long-term follow-up for lasting disability (38%), medication complications (38%) and bloodstream infection (35%).
02Parents reported high perceived safety, with median scores of 4 and 5, but communication after a mistake had a wider range (median 4, IQR 2 to 4).
03Open-ended responses were grouped into three categories: foundations for safer care delivery, understanding as a foundation for safety, and shared voices, safer choices.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The survey was opt-in and snowball sampled, so no denominator or response rate could be determined. Most respondents were female (91%) and from Queensland (87%), limiting generalisability to all Australian and New Zealand PICU families. Time since PICU admission or discharge was not collected, which may have affected recall. The study identified perceptions and priorities; it did not evaluate whether any safety intervention works.
Declared interests
Funded by an Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Foundation project grant. C.M.R. declared investigator-initiated grants from Cardinal Health, 3M and BD, consultancy payments from 3M, BBraun, BD and ITL Medical, and educational grants from 3M/Solventum, Angiodynamics/Spectrum Vascular, Eloquest and ICU Medical. K.S.G. received a National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these priorities as proof that changing staffing, handover or communication improves PICU safety. The study asked families what they perceived and prioritised; it did not test any intervention.