SAFETY CULTURE AMONG SURGICAL CENTER PROFESSIONALS

Abstract

This survey type study was conducted between June and August 2013 and assessed the perception of safety culture. Of the 185 workers of two surgical centers of a teaching hospital in southern Brazil that fulfilled the inclusion criteria, 165 responded to the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. Of these 33 were excluded due to a response rate below 65%, leaving 132 participants, mostly from the nursing and medical team. A low perception of the safety culture was evidenced by scores <75 points among 73.5% of the participants. The mean score was 62.7 and among the domains ranged from 55.4 for the Perceptions of Unit Management to 76.9 for Job Satisfaction; statistical differences were observed between the professional categories in various aspects of the safety culture. The results highlight the need for actions aiming to strengthen the patient safety culture considering the complexity of the care provided in the surgical center.

Keywords

• Organizational culture
• Patient safety
• Hospital surgical center