Assessing Building Blocks for Patient Safety Culture-a Quantitative Assessment of Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

PurposeThe study analyzes staffs’ perception of a safety culture and their knowledge of safety measures in the hospitals of Saudi Arabia.Patients and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted by considering six different public hospitals from Arar city, and by recruiting 503 nurses. Building blocks of patient safety culture were measured through survey questions.ResultsThe highest positive rating (81%) was received by both “people support one another in this unit” and “in this unit, people treat each other with respect.” Supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting patient safety was rated neutrally (n = 283; 56%) with an average mean score of 3.17±0.50, which suggested a neutral response by participants. Organizational learning, along with continuous improvement, was positively rated (n = 406; 81%) with an average mean score of 3.93±0.61.ConclusionIt demonstrated that participant nurses neither disagree nor agree on the level of patient safety culture prevailing in their hospital setting.