Table 3.
Average percentage and number of positive responses for each item and dimension.
| Patient safety culture items and dimensions | Positive responses |
Total responses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | N | ||
| (1) Non-punitive response to errors (dimension positivity = 23.96) | |||
| Staff feel like their mistakes are held against them | 25.7 | 259 | 1008 |
| When an event is reported, it feels like the person is being written up, not the problem. | 34.6 | 349 | 1008 |
| Staff worry that any mistakes they make are recorded in their personnel files. | 11.6 | 117 | 1008 |
| (2) Staffing (dimension positivity = 30.13) | |||
| We have enough staff to handle the workload. | 53.9 | 543 | 1008 |
| Staff in this unit work longer hours than recommended for patient care. | 18.5 | 186 | 1008 |
| We use more agency/temporary staff than recommended for patient care. | 35.7 | 360 | 1008 |
| We work in “crisis mode” trying to do too much, too quickly. | 12.4 | 125 | 1008 |
| (3) Communication openness (dimension positivity = 44.83) | |||
| Staff speak freely if they see something that may negatively affect patient care. | 63.2 | 637 | 1008 |
| Staff feel free to question the decisions or actions of those with more authority. | 31.5 | 317 | 1008 |
| Staff are afraid to ask questions when something does not seem right. | 39.8 | 401 | 1008 |
| (4) Handoffs & transitions (dimension positivity = 54.33) | |||
| Things “fall between the cracks” when transferring patients from one unit to another. | 46.5 | 468 | 1006 |
| Important patient care information is often lost during shift changes. | 66.5 | 670 | 1008 |
| Problems often occur in the exchange of information across hospital units. | 42 | 423 | 1007 |
| Shift changes are problematic for patients in this hospital. | 62.3 | 627 | 1007 |
| (5) Overall perceptions of patient safety (dimension positivity = 55.65) | |||
| Patient safety is never sacrificed to get more work done. | 78.8 | 794 | 1008 |
| Our procedures and systems are good at preventing errors. | 78.1 | 788 | 1008 |
| It is just by chance that serious mistakes don't happen here. | 26.9 | 271 | 1008 |
| We have patient safety problems in this unit. | 38.8 | 391 | 1008 |
| (6) Teamwork across units (dimension positivity = 56.75) | |||
| There is good cooperation among hospital units that must work together. | 63.2 | 637 | 1008 |
| Hospital units work well together to provide the best care for patients. | 76.6 | 772 | 1007 |
| Hospital units do not coordinate or work well together. | 45.7 | 461 | 1008 |
| It is often unpleasant to work with staff from other hospital units. | 41.5 | 418 | 1007 |
| (7) Event reporting frequency (dimension positivity = 57.15) | |||
| When a mistake is caught and corrected before it affects a patient, how often is this reported? | 48.2 | 486 | 1008 |
| When a mistake has no potential to harm the patient, how often is it reported? | 50.4 | 508 | 1008 |
| When a mistake does not harm a patient, even though it could, how often is this reported? | 60 | 604 | 1007 |
| When a mistake is made that harms the patient, how often is this reported? | 70 | 706 | 1007 |
| (8) Feedback & communication about errors (dimension positivity = 67.27) | |||
| We are given feedback on changes implemented as a result of event reports. | 44.3 | 447 | 1008 |
| We are told about errors that happen in this unit. | 81.1 | 817 | 1008 |
| In this unit, we discuss ways to prevent errors from happening again. | 76.4 | 770 | 1008 |
| (9) Management support for patient safety (dimension positivity = 67.33) | |||
| The hospital management creates a work climate that promotes patient safety. | 71 | 716 | 1008 |
| The actions of hospital management show that patient safety is a top priority. | 78.2 | 788 | 1008 |
| Hospital managers only seem interested in patient safety after an adverse event has happened. | 52.8 | 532 | 1008 |
| (10) Supervisor/manager expectations & actions promoting patient safety (dimension positivity = 70.35) | |||
| My supervisor/manager makes a positive comment when he/she sees that a job has been done right, in accordance with established patient safety procedures. | 75.8 | 764 | 1008 |
| My supervisor/manager takes seriously staff suggestions for improving patient safety. | 78.5 | 792 | 1008 |
| Whenever pressure builds up, my supervisor/manager wants us to work faster, even if it means taking shortcuts. | 51.9 | 523 | 1008 |
| My supervisor/manager overlooks patient safety problems, even when they happen over and over. | 75.2 | 758 | 1008 |
| (11) Organizational learning—continuous improvement (dimension positivity = 86.6) | |||
| We are actively taking steps to improve patient safety. | 94.6 | 954 | 1008 |
| Mistakes have led to positive changes here. | 78.4 | 790 | 1008 |
| After we make changes to improve patient safety, we evaluate their effectiveness. | 86.8 | 875 | 1008 |
| (12) Teamwork within units (dimension positivity = 88.2) | |||
| People support one another in this unit. | 92.6 | 934 | 1008 |
| When a lot of work needs to be done quickly, we work together as a team to get the work done. | 91.9 | 926 | 1008 |
| In this unit, people treat each other with respect. | 89.2 | 899 | 1008 |
| When one area in this unit gets really busy, others help out. | 79.1 | 797 | 1008 |