Table 2.
Cronbach’s alpha and distribution of positive responses and scores for survey composites and items
| Composites and survey items | Average% positive responsea | Mean (Standard deviation) |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Perception of Safety (Cronbach’s α = 0.234) | 59.5 | 3.41 (0.54) |
| It is just by chance that more serious mistakes do not happen around here (R)b | 29.4 | 2.72 (1.06) |
| Patient safety is never sacrificed to get more work done | 76.6 | 3.80 (0.97) |
| We have patient safety problems in this unit (R) | 49.7 | 3.19 (1.09) |
| Our policies and procedures and systems are effective in preventing errors | 82.1 | 3.91 (0.75) |
| Supervisor/Manager Expectations & Actions Promoting Patient Safety (Cronbach’s α = 0.395) | 60.8 | 3.44 (0.60) |
| My supervisor/manager says a good word when he/she sees a job done according to established patient safety procedures | 74.2 | 3.74 (0.94) |
| My supervisor/manager seriously considers staff suggestions for improving patient safety | 76.4 | 3.80 (0.87) |
| Whenever pressure builds up, my supervisor/manager wants us to work faster, even if it means taking shortcuts (R) | 52.1 | 3.27 (1.06) |
| My supervisor/manager overlooks patient safety problems that happen over and over (R) | 40.4 | 2.94 (1.16) |
| Organizational learning and Continuous Improvement (Cronbach’s α = 0.614) | 86.3 | 4.03 (0.53) |
| We are actively doing things to improve patient safety | 94.8 | 4.31 (0.64) |
| Mistake have led to positive changes here | 76.8 | 3.78 (0.78) |
| After we make changes to improve patient safety, we evaluate their effectiveness | 87.4 | 4.01 (0.69) |
| Teamwork within units (Cronbach’s α = 0.757) | 84.8 | 3.40 (0.60) |
| Staff support one another in this unit | 90.1 | 4.11 (0.71) |
| When a lot of work needs to be done quickly, we work together as a team to get the work done | 89.3 | 4.11 (0.71) |
| In this unit, people treat each other with respect | 85.4 | 4.03 (0.75) |
| When members of this unit get really busy, other members of the same unit help out | 74.2 | 3.75 (0.95) |
| Non-punitive Response to Error (Cronbach’s α = 0.694) | 24.8 | 2.62 (0.79) |
| Staff feel like their mistakes are held against them (R) | 31.4 | 2.82 (1.04) |
| When an event is reported, it feels like the person is being written up, not the problem (R) | 29.3 | 2.76 (1.02) |
| Staff worry that mistakes they make are kept in their personnel file (R) | 13.7 | 2.29 (0.93) |
| Staffing (Cronbach’s α = 0.210) | 33.8 | 2.79 (0.57) |
| We have enough staff to handle the workload | 56.1 | 3.29 (1.18) |
| Staff in this unit work longer hours than is best for patient care (R) | 11.2 | 2.17 (0.89) |
| We use agency/temporary staff than is best for patient care (R) | 45.2 | 3.14 (1.08) |
| When the work is in “crisis mode” we try to do too much, too quickly (R) | 22.8 | 2.56 (1.01) |
| Hospital Management Support for Patient Safety (Cronbach’s α = 0.519) | 75.3 | 3.76 (0.62) |
| Hospital management provides a work climate that promotes patient safety | 85.3 | 3.95 (0.68) |
| The actions of hospital management show that patient safety is a top priority | 86.9 | 4.07 (0.77) |
| Hospital management seems interested in patient safety only after an adverse event happens (R) | 53.6 | 3.26 (1.10) |
| Teamwork Across Hospital Units (Cronbach’s α = 0.627) | 67.0 | 3.59 (0.62) |
| There is good cooperation among hospital units that need to work together | 73.0 | 3.69 (0.82) |
| Hospital units work well together to provide the best care for patients | 85.5 | 4.03 (0.77) |
| Hospital units do not coordinate well with each other and this might affect patient care (R) | 55.8 | 3.30 (1.04) |
| It is often not easy to work with staff from other hospital units (R) | 53.7 | 3.35 (0.97) |
| Hospital Handoffs & Transitions (Cronbach’s α = 0.783) | 55.8 | 3.39 (0.75) |
| Things “fall between the cracks”, i.e., things might go uncontrolled and get lost (ex: medical records, medical treatment, patient information and education, discharge criteria) when transferring patients from one unit to another (R) | 45.5 | 3.18 (1.01) |
| Important patient care information is often lost during shift changes (R) | 66.8 | 3.59 (0.96) |
| Problems often occur in the exchange of information across hospital units (R) | 46.2 | 3.22 (0.95) |
| Shift changes are problematic for patients in this hospital (R) | 64.5 | 3.56 (0.93) |
| Communication Openness (Cronbach’s α = 0.533) | 45.0 | 3.36 (0.83) |
| Staff will freely speak up if they see something that may negatively affect patient care | 64.5 | 3.84 (1.07) |
| Staff feel free to question the decisions or actions of those with more authority | 34.3 | 3.08 (1.21) |
| Staff are afraid to ask questions when something does not feel right (R) | 36.2 | 3.15 (1.15) |
| Feedback and Communications About Error (Cronbach’s α = 0.732) | 71.8 | 4.04 (0.79) |
| We are given feedback about changes put into place based on event reports | 56.5 | 3.69 (1.06) |
| We are informed about errors that happen in this unit | 79.0 | 4.21 (0.95) |
| In this unit, we discuss ways to prevent errors from happening again | 79.9 | 4.22 (0.93) |
| Frequency of events reported (Cronbach’s α = 0.902) | 68.8 | 3.92 (1.10) |
| When a mistake is made, but is caught and corrected affecting the patient, how often is this reported? | 65.6 | 3.83 (1.21) |
| When a mistake is made, but has no potential to harm the patient, how often is this reported? | 65.9 | 3.86 (1.22) |
| When a mistake is made that could harm the patient, but does not, how often is this reported? | 74.9 | 4.07 (1.17) |
athe composite-level percentage of positive responses was calculated using the following formula: (number of positive responses to the items in the composite/total number of responses to the items (positive, neutral, and negative) in the composite (excluding missing responses))*100
bNegatively worded items that were reverse coded