Measuring the Extent of Compliance to Standard Operating Procedures for Documentation of Medical Records by Healthcare Workers in Kenya

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Date
2020
Authors
Omoit, David F. O.
Otieno, George O.
Rucha, Kenneth K.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Scientific & Academic Publishing
Abstract
Poor compliance to health systems guidelines and standards are associated with a dismal performance and it contributes greatly, to high number of deaths, injury, medical errors, patients harm and ineffective care. Globally, patient harm is the 14th leading cause of disease burden. The study sought to establish the compliance to standard operating procedure (SOP) for documentation of medical records by healthcare workers, Kenya. In particular, the current study leveraged a descriptive cross-sectional methodology to determine the association between socio-demographic characteristics and compliance to SOP for documentation of medical records among 197 healthcare workers sampled from 400 healthcare workers in Bungoma level 4 hospital. Stratified proportionate and simple random sampling techniques were employed. Quantitative data was collected using self-administered questionnaires. Informed consent was nevertheless obtained from all respondents prior to the study. Moreover, data management was made possible using Microsoft Excel and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. On the other hand, Chi square analysis was used to test the association between dependent and independent variables, albeit at 95% confidence interval (CI). Frequency tables and pie charts were used to present the results. More importantly, the initial Chi square analysis revealed, a strong association between cadre χ2 (23.67, df=10, N=195) p=0.009, work experience χ2 (8.75, df=5, N=195) p=0.047, and level of education χ2 (10.16, df=4, N=195) p=0.048, even though the association between gender (χ2=0.412, df=1, N=195) p=0.521 and age (χ2=3.172, df=3, N=195) p=0.366 were not significant. The current analysis has confirmed the compliance level was very low at 47.2%. The immediate implication is that the county health management team needs to foster continuous in-service training and refresher courses to strengthen healthcare worker’s skills in compliance with the SOP for documentation of medical records. Future research should otherwise consider looking at the influence of institutional characteristics on healthcare worker’s compliance to SOPs for documentation of medical records in Bungoma level 4 hospital and beyond.
Description
article
Keywords
Compliance, Documentation, Healthcare Workers, Medical Records, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
Citation
Omoit, D. F., Otieno, G. O., & Rucha, K. K. (2020). Measuring the Extent of Compliance to Standard Operating Procedures for Documentation of Medical Records by Healthcare Workers in Kenya.