Abstract
There is a growing body of evidence linking adverse events such as falls with poor patient safety climate. This study explored nurse perceptions of safety climate to guide the implementation of the 6-PACK falls prevention program. The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) was used to quantify safety climate. 420 nurses from 24 acute wards across 6 Australian hospitals responded to the questionnaire (response rate 59.8%). On average, 53.5% of nurses held positive attitudes towards job satisfaction followed by teamwork climate (50.5%). There was variability in SAQ domain scores across hospitals as well as across wards within a hospital. Findings from this study provide an insight into possible targets for strategies to improve safety climate. Implications of the association between safety climate and falls will also help to tailor patient safety programs keeping in mind that wards may have their own safety ‘sub-culture’ distinct to the overall hospital culture.