Patient Safety Culture as Perceived by Nursing Staff

Abstract

Safety culture, an important concept in providing a safe environment for employees and patients. It is important to understand nurses’ patient safety perceptions and to comprehend what factors influence their views. Aim: The study aims to assess patient safety culture as perceived by nursing staff. Setting: The study was conducted in El-Helal Hospital (trauma hospital) using a descriptive design. Sample :( 20) head nurses, and(70) staff nurses. Tools: Hospital survey of patient safety culture(HSPSC) used to collect the data. Results: nursing staff perceived patient safety culture positively. Moreover head nurses perceived patient safety culture more positively than staff nurses. There was a statistically significant difference between positive responses of staff nurses and head nurses in five dimensions related to Supervisor/ manager expectations and actions promoting patient safety dimension, Organizational learning dimension, Overall perception of patient safety dimension, Feedback and communication about error dimension, and Staffing dimension.Conclusion: Head nurses perceived patient safety culture more positively than staff nurses.The majority of the nursing staff reported 1-2 events over the past 12 months. Recommendation: Patient safety culture must be an integral part of the orientation and on job educational staff development programs, and further studies are recommended to assess nursing staff perceptions regarding to patient safety culture in a wider scale.

Keywords:patient safety culture, perception, nursing staff.