A cross-sectional survey on patient safety culture in secondary hospitals of Northeast China.

Kexin Jiang,Qunhong Wu,Cunling Yan,Ying Li,Huiying Fang,Sun Peihang,Yu Cui,Mingli Jiao,Linli Tian,Ming Liu,Siqi Zhao,Gamburg Anastasia,Haonan Jia,Yameng Wang,Peng Li,Zheng Kang,He Liu,Lars-Peter Kamolz

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0213055

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study aims to investigate patient safety culture in secondary hospitals of Heilongjiang, Northeast China, and explore the implications of patient safety culture and practices through the perspectives of various healthcare workers.MethodsA cross-sectional survey using the Safety Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ) was conducted to ascertain the status of patient safety culture in nine secondary hospitals across the six dimensions of the SAQ. Among the 900 staff members who were invited to participate, 665 completed the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate the general means and standard deviations of the patient safety culture dimensions and other numerical variables, and F-test and a multivariate regression analysis were used to statistically analyze the differences in perceptions of safety culture considering the differences in demographic characteristics. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS v. 22.0.ResultsThe respondents rated job satisfaction as the highest among all six dimensions of the SAQ, followed in order by teamwork climate, working conditions, and stress recognition (the lowest). There were significant differences among the dimensions of patient safety culture and other factors, such as gender, age, job position, and education. Compared with previous studies, teamwork climate and working conditions scores were quite high, while stress recognition score was very low. We also found differences in patient safety culture by demographic characteristics.ConclusionsThe findings revealed the patient safety culture attitudes of healthcare workers in secondary hospitals of Heilongjiang, and provided baseline data for related future research. This evidence may also help government health policymakers and hospital administrators understand related challenges and develop strategies to improve patient safety culture in secondary hospitals of China and perhaps also in other developing countries.

Highlights

The multiple well-known reports on patient safety published by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) have induced public awareness on the problem[1]
The findings revealed the patient safety culture attitudes of healthcare workers in secondary hospitals of Heilongjiang, and provided baseline data for related future research
The participation rate was 74%, similar to that observed in related studies (63%–79%)[24, 25], which indicates that responses to the Safety Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ) items can be taken as representative

Summary

Introduction

The multiple well-known reports on patient safety published by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) have induced public awareness on the problem[1]. According to the IOM reports, improving patient safety culture is the biggest challenge in creating a safer health care system; it influences the likelihood of medical errors and personal failure[5]. Previous studies have focused more on patient safety culture in developed countries than on that in developing countries[6, 7]. It has been observed more in large general hospitals (tertiary hospitals) than in lower-level hospitals (secondary hospitals).

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