Patient safety culture: Perspective of health and support workers

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the culture of patient safety from the perspective of workers working directly or indirectly in the care of hospitalized patients. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 2,634 hospital service workers from seven institutions in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The Brazilian version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire was used. Descriptive and inferential analyzes were performed, considering scores ≥ 75 points as positive culture. Results: A positive evaluation of the safety culture was evidenced in the Teamwork climate (median 75) and Job Satisfaction (median 90) domains. Physiotherapists, dentists and maintenance workers evaluated the safety culture positively (p<0.05). Psychologists, nutrition/dietetics professionals and security guards/ doormen achieved higher percentages for negative culture (p<0.05). Conclusion: The safety culture obtained predominantly negative scores, more expressive in the Perception of hospital management domain. When comparing the health and support categories, little variability was identified in scores of the instrument domains, although support professionals tended to score lower. Assessing the dimensions of the safety culture provides a situational diagnosis of the organization or work unit and can support management strategies aimed at improving the quality of patient care.