Exploring staff perspectives of the barriers to the implementation of accreditation in Jordanian hospitals: Case study

ABSTRACT

Background: Accreditation is a process of assessing a hospital. It includes a self-assessment against a set of standards and an external assessment followed by a report. Jordan, has started developing and applying accreditation in its healthcare organizations.

Aim: This study aims to explore the barriers associated with applying an accreditation programme in hospitals in Jordan, from the perspective of doctors and nursing staff.

Method: This study is qualitative in nature, adopting a case study method, with face-to-face interviews as the key instrument of data collection in two hospitals in Jordan. The sample interviewed consisted of 25 doctors and nurses in total.

Result: Four key barriers to accreditation were identified in the sampled hospitals: lack of motivation, low salaries, and poor incentives, workload, the cost of accreditation implementation, staff shortages, and high staff turnover. The investigation also offers recommendations for enhancing the implementation of accreditation in Jordanian hospitals.

Conclusion: This study explored the main barriers to successful accreditation in Jordanian hospitals; thereby making an original contribution to existing knowledge, as it is the first empirical exploration of the implementation of accreditation in the above-mentioned context. As such, it has attempted to offer an in-depth understanding of the factors impacting this process.

KEYWORDS:

• Accreditation
• barriers
• doctors
• implementation
• Jordan
• hospital
• qualitative
• nurses

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the study participants for their time and invaluable contribution.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abdullah Algunmeeyn

Dr. Abdullah Algunmeeyn holds a PhD degree in nursing specialized in Nursing Administration and Quality Management graduated from University of Nottingham, UK. Currently he is working as an Assistant Professor of Nursing within the School of Nursing at Isra University. He is engaged in Nursing research and his researches mainly in the field of nursing management.

Faris El-Dahiyat

Dr. Faris El-Dahiyat is an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice and working as a Director of Master of clinical pharmacy program, College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University. He is engaged in pharmacy research and his researches mainly in the field of Pharmacy Practice, Pharmaceutical management, Pharmacoeconomics, Pharmaceutical policy and clinical pharmacy.

Imad Alfayoumi

Dr. Imad Alfayoumi is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at faculty of nursing at Isra University.

Mervat Alrawashdeh

Mrs. Mervat Alrawashdeh is a registered nurse at Royal medical service in Jordan. She completed her undergraduate degree in Nursing at Mutah University.