Safety Climate and Organizational Communication Satisfaction Among Korean Perianesthesia Care Unit Nurses

Abstract

PurposeThis study investigated organizational communication satisfaction and safety climate among perianesthesia care unit (PACU) nurses and factors affecting safety climate. DesignA cross-sectional study of 103 registered nurses currently working in PACUs in Korea. MethodsOrganizational communication satisfaction was measured using the Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire, and safety climate was assessed using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire-Korean version 2. Additional questions covered the demographics of the respondents and the characteristics of the hospital where they worked. FindingsFactors affecting teamwork climate included communication climate and horizontal informal communication. Safety climate was affected by media quality and organizational integration; job satisfaction by working in secondary hospitals, communication climate, and media quality; perception of management by working in public hospitals, media quality, and personal feedback; and working conditions by working in public hospitals, media quality, and personal feedback. ConclusionsThe results show that Korean PACU nurses experience poorer safety climate compared with other countries. One suggestion is to enhance nurses’ satisfaction using organizational communication (eg, by developing effective communication media that satisfy users) and to promote communication at an organizational level so that individual health care professionals are aware of their organizations’ vision and policies.