A Pilot Study Testing the Dimensions of Safety Climate among Japanese Nurses

Abstract

To investigate the dimensions of safety climate among Japanese nurses, an anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted. The subjects involved in the survey included 293 full-time nurses (registered nurses and licensed practical nurses) working in a public hospital, excluding directors of nursing. A total of 221 of the 293 nurses answered the questionnaires. Among 221 questionnaires, the questionnaires, which had missing values in the question items used in this study, were excluded from the analyses. Consequently, a total of 201 questionnaires were analyzed. The average age of the subjects was 34.7 yr. As a result of exploratory factor analysis, 5 factors were extracted as follows: intellectual development regarding medical safety among nurses, accumulated fatigue, nursing conditions, supervisors' attitudes, and communication with physicians. All the values of Cronback's coefficient alpha among these 5 factors were between 0.804 and 0.892. As a result of the confirmatory factor analysis of the 5 factors, the value of the GFI (Goodness of Fit Index) was 0.868. The value of the CFI (Comparative Fit Index) was 0.943. The value of the RMSEA (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) was 0.062. The results of this study will contribute to the investigation of the dimensions of a nurses' safety climate scale in the future. The associations between the dimensions of the safety climate and the motivation to work toward improving patients' safety among Japanese nurses will need to be examined, as will those between the dimensions of the safety climate and actual clinical mistakes.