Developing patient safety standards for health-care quality promotion in neonatal intensive care units: A mixed-methods Protocol

Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is one of the accident‑prone settings in the health‑care system. There is a series of structural and process threats to the safety of infants hospitalized in this unit, which can be prevented by taking the right actions. For this purpose, developing standards based on current knowledge, available resources, and the context that provides care can determine patient injury prevention requirements. Likewise, it can be a source for national development and application of related guidelines and protocols. This study aims to develop patient safety standards in the NICUs of Iran.

This mixed‑methods study will apply the exploration, preparation, implementation, and sustainment framework to develop patient safety standards. In each phase of this framework, a set of activities take place. Exploration is based on the world health organization model to develop standards. Determining the validity and applicability of standards will be done in Phase 2 (Preparation) and Phase 3 (Implementation), respectively. Since the long‑term effects are not desired, the fourth phase (Sustainment) will not be considered.

Patient safety standards from this study will contribute to efficient and effective, equitable, and high‑quality health‑care delivery. The application of them will further promote patient safety and the quality of medical care in Iranian NICUs.