DefinePK

Abstract

Safety and quality care in hospitals is determined by the institutionalization of safety culture in healthcare settings. This study focused on identification of work place hazards in healthcare settings. The aim of the study was to examine the effects of occupational hazards that cause hindrance in delivering safer healthcare. Occupational hazards are a source of potential harm for healthcare workers. This study utilized a qualitative design based on focus group discussions with healthcare workers including house officers, post graduate trainees, nurses, and paramedic staff dealing with patients. The study was carried out at three regional hospitals. Six focused group discussions were carried out with healthcare workers including house officers, post graduate trainees, nurses, and paramedic staff. Focus group discussions were analyzed with the help of content analysis. The employees at hospitals face varying kinds of health hazards such as physical, biological, and psychosocial hazards that interfere with the smooth and efficient provision of safer care. The absence of safety culture norms in healthcare settings create the preconditions of occupational hazards obscuring meaning of work and drainage of motivation; damaging healthcare workers, patients, healthcare setups, families, and economy as a whole. This study revealed that safety culture is not fully implemented both in theory and practice in Pakistani context.||Key Words: Hospitals, Occupational Hazards, Occupational Exposure, Occupational Health, Safety Culture.