Table 4.

Descriptive statistics of survey on patient safety culture and benchmark scores

Ten factors subscales and survey items	Score (SD)	Benchmark score
Teamwork within units (Cronbach's α = 0.83)	70 (6)#	75
a. People support one another between units	65(6)	81*
b. When a lot of work needs to be done quickly, we work together as a team to get the work done	75(5)	81*
c. In all units, people treat each other with respect	72(3)	73
d. When one area in this unit gets really busy, others help out	70(9)	63
Management Expectations and Actions Promoting Patient Safety (Cronbach's α = 0.72)	44 (6)§	70*
a. Management says a good word when he/she sees a job done according to established resident safety procedures	37(5)§	68*
b. Management seriously considers staff suggestions for improving resident safety	41(7)	72*
c. Whenever pressure builds up, my manager wants us to work faster, even if it means taking shortcuts (R)	37(5)	67*
d. My manager overlooks resident safety problems that happen over and over (R)	60(8)	71*
Teamwork across units and Management support for resident safety (Cronbach's α = 0.80)	40 (8)	62*
a. Management provides a work climate that promotes resident safety	40(12)†‡	72*
b. The actions of management show that resident safety is a top priority	37(6)‡	65*
c. Management seems interested in resident safety only after an adverse event happens	32(4)	50*
d. There is good cooperation among units that need to work together	46(12)	34
e. Units work well together to provide the best care for residents	40(6)	47
f. Units do not coordinate well with each other (R)	57(2)	51*
Organizational learning (Cronbach's α = 0.68)	41 (7)#	66*
a. We are actively doing things to improve resident safety	51(5)‡	77*
b. Staff in this facility work longer hours than is best for resident care	21(4)	48*
c. After we make changes to improve resident safety, we evaluate their effectiveness	52(7)‡ §	62*
Overall perceptions of safety (Cronbach's α = 0,57)	62 (7)#	56
a. Resident safety is never sacrificed to get more work done	67(7)†	53*
b. Our procedures and systems are good at preventing errors from happening	67(11)	55
c. It is just by chance that more serious mistakes don't happen around here	57(5)§	52
d. We have patient safety problems in this facility (R)	57(5)	64*
Feedback and communication openness about error (Cronbach's α = 0.81)	38 (6)§#	59*
a. We are given feedback about changes put into place based on event reports	30(4)§	53*
b. We are informed about errors that happen in the units	47(9)	59*
c. In this facility, we discuss ways to prevent errors from happening again	42(6)§	65*
a. Staff will freely speak up if they see something that may negatively affect resident care	43(1)† ‡	72*
b. Staff feel free to question the decisions or actions of those with more authority	19(3)	46*
c. Staff are afraid to ask questions when something does not seem right (R)	47(4)	60*
Frequency of events reported (Cronbach's α = 0.86)	15 (4)	54*
a. When a mistake is made, but is caught and corrected before affecting the resident, how often is this reported?	13(2)	47*
b. When a mistake is made, but has no potential to harm the resident, how often is this reported?	14(3)	50*
c. When a mistake is made that could harm the resident, but does not, how often is this reported?	18(4)‡	67*
Staffing (Cronbach's α = 0.63)	44 (9)†	48
a. We have enough staff to handle the workload	36(19)† §	45
c. We use more agency/temporary staff than is best for resident care	76(9)	61*
d. We work in "crisis mode" trying to do too much, too quickly (R)	21(4)	40*
Handoffs and transitions (Cronbach's α = 0.72)	54 (4)† ‡	35*
a. Things "fall between the cracks" when transferring residents from one unit to another (R)	44(6)	29*
b. Important resident care information is often lost during shift changes (R)	59(3)	44*
c. Problems often occur in the exchange of information across units (R)	42(5)	32*
d. It is often unpleasant to work with staff from other units (R)	46(7)	56*
e. Shift changes are problematic for residents in this facility (R)	67(1)	36*
Non-punitive response to error (Cronbach's α = 0.71)	24 (4)	37*
a. Staff feel like their mistakes are held against them (R)	14(1)	44*
b. When an event is reported, it feels like the person is being written up, not the problem (R)	19(1)	39*
c. Mistakes have led to positive changes here	42(11)	58*
d. Staff worry that mistakes they make are kept in their personnel file (R)	23(4)	28*
Overall (Cronbach's α = 0.86)	44 (5)†	67*

R = item was reverse coded

*Significantly different t test at p,0.05 (using same SD for both data)

† Lover in university hospital to general and teaching hospital (p < 0.001)

‡ Lower in physicians to nurses (p < 0.05)

§Lower in staff working in Emergency/ICU/OR (p < 0.05)

# Lower in staff working 50 hour or more per week (p < 0.05)