Nurses′ perceptions of patient safety culture in emergency departments of tertiary hospitals in Sichuan province

Abstract

Objective To explore nurses′ perceptions of patient safety culture in emergency departments at tertiary hospitals in Sichuan province. Methods By convenient sampling method, a total of 210 emergency nurses from 6 tertiary hospitals in Sichuan province were investigated with a general data questionnaire and a hospital survey on patient safety scale. Results 68.10% of the emergency nurses had positive perceptions of patient safety culture, as evidenced by the following indicators. The organization learning and continuous improvement (74.27%), hospital management support for patient safety (72.70%), supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting safety (78.10%), were the safety culture areas with higher percentage of positive response. Areas of non-punitive response to errors (19.67%), staffing (41.08%) had the lowest percentage of positive response. There were significant differences between such groups as years of working, education background and job title. Conclusions Patient safety culture should be improved in the emergency departments of the tertiary hospitals in Sichuan province, especially in the adverse events reporting system and staffing problem. Safety training deserves greater attention in nurses with less working experience, education background or job title in emergency departments. Key words: Sichuan province; Emergency department; Nurse; Patient safety culture; Survey