Patient safety culture among nurses at a tertiary government hospital in the Philippines

Abstract

AimTo assess the patient safety culture (PSC) among nurses at a government hospital BackgroundCulture of patient safety is acknowledged as a critical component to the quality of health care. Despite the increasing curiosity on PSC, little studies are available in the Philippine context. MethodsA descriptive, cross-sectional, single-center study using total population sampling technique was conducted. PSC was assessed using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) among Registered Nurses. Descriptive statistics were employed to express demographic data and composites of safety culture. Results292 nurses completed the survey, yielding a response rate of 86.65%. Of the 12 composites evaluated, Teamwork within Units (91.50%) was the highest positively-rated followed by Organizational Learning – Continuous Improvement (86.89%) while Nonpunitive Response to Error (17.65%) was the least positively-rated. Most (71.48%) of the respondents had not reported any event within the past 12 months. Majority (45%) reported that the overall patient safety grade of the hospital was very good and no one thought that it was failing. ConclusionsThis study showed that nurses value Teamwork within Units and Organizational Learning-Continuous Improvement as important aspects of PSC. Nonpunitive Response to Error was the area that requires improvement. Determining PSC level should be a continuous process. The first step should be obtaining the support of the administration and assuming a non-punitive approach to those who make and report medical errors. If the problem of personnel not reporting events is to be resolved, any barriers to reporting should be identified and addressed.