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The role of professional and organisational cultures in medication safety – how does this affect the governance of medication safety?

Seminar details

Samantha Machen presented at a QHRN seminar in December 2019.

Title: The role of professional and organisational cultures in medication safety – how does this affect the governance of medication safety?

Date: Monday 9th December 2019

Time: 12:30-13:30

Location: UCL, Bloomsbury Campus, Darwin Building Room B15

Abstract

Governing medication safety in the hospital is complex and involves an interplay of many different professional groups and different organisational setting. It has been suggested professional groups may have their own ‘cultures’ and the impact of this on inter- and intra-professional working in medication safety has not yet been explored fully. This PhD utilised ethnographic methods, including non-participant observations and interviews, to explore the way medication safety is governed from the ‘top down’ and how ‘cultures’ and ‘sub cultures’ impacted the assurance of medication safety. Findings from case studies of 3 different hospitals will be presented to understand how professionals navigated through these ‘cultures’ and how this impacted the day-to-day workings and thus, medication safety.

Biography

Sam completed an undergraduate Masters of Nursing Science (MNurSci) degree at the University of Nottingham before working as qualified Intensive Care nurse at the East Midlands Major Trauma Centre in Nottingham. She later completed a MSc at The London School of Economics and Political Science in International Health Policy before joining UCL for her PhD. Her research interests include patient safety, specifically avoidable harm, quality improvement and the role of external and internal governance systems- having previously worked with the Care Quality Commission as an Inspector of NHS Trusts in the UK.