A cross-national study on healthcare safety climate and staff attitudes to disclosing adverse events between China and Japan

Abstract

The present paper reports comparative results of safety climate in healthcare and staff attitudes to error reporting and interaction with patients between China and Japan. Using two language versions of questionnaire, we collected response data from hospital staff in China (in 2008) and Japan (in 2006). Significant differences were observed in most dimensions of safety climate between these two countries, though not in the same direction in terms of positive or negative nature. In contrast, there was a uniform national difference in staff attitudes to error reporting. Chinese doctors and nurses being significantly less willing than their Japanese colleagues to engage in any action or interaction with patients after an adverse event, regardless of the severity of the event. Finally, we discuss possible sources of these differences in safety climate and staff attitudes between the two countries, and some implications for improving healthcare safety climate. © 2010 Springer.