Abstract
Background: Accurate patient identification is essential to prevent medical errors, ensure patient safety, and improve continuity of care. Routine audits in the Male Medical Ward of Wadi Al-Dawaser General Hospital revealed poor compliance (62%) with patient identification protocols during shift handovers, resulting in misidentification incidents and near-miss events.
Objectives: To improve adherence to patient identification protocols during every shift handover.
- To achieve ≥90% compliance rate in patient ID verification by July 2025.
- To reduce misidentification-related incidents by at least 80%.
Methods: This quality improvement project followed the FOCUS–PDCA model. Interventions included the development of a structured handover checklist with embedded patient identification steps, focused staff training, visual reminders, and biweekly compliance audits. Data were collected through observational audits and analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Results: Patient identification compliance improved from 62% to 91% (+29%), misidentification incidents dropped from 5 to 1 per 1000 patients (−80%), and staff knowledge scores increased from 65% to 90% (+25%).
Conclusion: Structured handover checklists and regular audits significantly improved patient identification compliance, reduced misidentification risk, and fostered a culture of safety. Sustaining improvement requires continuous education, supervision, and reinforcement.