Nurse and Other Healthcare Managers' Experiences and Recommendations for Patient Incident Reporting Processes and Real-Time Software Development: A Qualitative Study.

Abstract

AIMS To (1) analyse managers' experiences with handling patient safety incident reports in an incident reporting software, identifying key challenges; (2) analyse the incident report processes from the managers' perspective; (3) examine managers' perceptions of ways to support and improve health professionals' experiences of report-handling processes; and (4) investigate how, from their point of view, incident reporting software should be developed in the future. DESIGN A descriptive qualitative study. METHODS Interviews and focus group discussions on Microsoft Teams from 11/2024 to 3/2025, including 16 participants, analysis with deductive and inductive content analysis. RESULTS Of 16 participants, 15 were managers and one was a patient safety expert. Most were nurse managers (n = 9). Four discussion themes were divided into 30 categories. Participants highlighted the need to improve the reporting software's terminology, classification and analysis tools. The use of artificial intelligence was desired but not currently integrated into the software. Participants were unsure of their skills to use all the software features. Clear and transparent handling processes, feedback, managers' behaviour and communication methods were seen as key to improving staff's experience with report processes. A real-time warning system was considered beneficial for various incident types. Specific questions must be answered before further developing such systems. CONCLUSION This study deepened the understanding of reporting software's challenges regarding its handling features. The handling processes of incident reports had multiple shortcomings, which may negatively affect health professionals' experiences in report handling. Real-time warning systems could assist healthcare managers in processing reports. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE Organisational-level guidance for incident report processing is needed. Improvements to report processing and reporting software can improve shared learning and understanding of the status of patient safety. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION No patient or public contribution. REPORTING METHOD COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research Checklist.