scholarly journals Exploring safety culture in the Finnish ambulance service with Emergency Medical Services Safety Attitudes Questionnaire

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anu Venesoja ◽  
Veronica Lindström ◽  
Pasi Aronen ◽  
Maaret Castrén ◽  
Susanna Tella
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Safety Culture ◽  
Safety Climate ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Safety Attitudes ◽  
Safety Attitudes Questionnaire ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Stress Recognition

Abstract Background Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is, by its nature, a challenging context that may create risks for both patients and employees. It is also known that an organisation’s safety culture has an influence on both patient and employee safety. Finnish EMS organisations lack knowledge of how their safety culture is perceived by their employees. Aim This study aims to test the psychometric properties of the Emergency Medical Services Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (EMS-SAQ) in a Finnish EMS setting. We also explore the connections between individual- and organisation-based characteristics and safety attitudes in the Finnish EMS. Methods A cross-sectional survey study design was used. The EMS-SAQ was used to collect data via social media. The instrument measures six domains of workplace safety culture: safety climate, teamwork climate, perceptions of management, job satisfaction, working conditions and stress recognition. The 5-point Likert scale was converted to a 100-point scale and mean ≥ 75 was dichotomized as a positive. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out to validate the EMS-SAQ in a Finnish setting. Other results were analysed by using non-parametric tests. Results 327 responses were included in the analysis. CFA showed that the total EMS-SAQ model had acceptable goodness-of-fit values in the Finnish EMS setting. Total mean scores for each safety culture domain were identified non-positively (mean score < 75); safety climate 60.12, teamwork climate 60.92, perceptions of management 56.31, stress recognition 64.55, working conditions 53.43 and job satisfaction 70.36. Higher education was connected to lower job satisfaction and the teamwork climate within the individual characteristics. All organisation-based characteristics caused at least one significant variation in the safety culture domain scores. Working area significantly affected (p < 0.05) five out of the six safety culture domain scores. Conclusions The EMS-SAQ is a valid tool to evaluate safety culture among the Finnish EMS organisations; it offers a novel method to evaluate safety and patient safety within the Finnish EMS organisations. According to the findings, the organisation-based characteristics more likely had an impact on safety attitudes than did the individual-based characteristics. Therefore, it is suggested that the Finnish EMS organisations undertake safety culture development at the organisational level.

scholarly journals The Association between the Participation of Quality Control Circle and Patient Safety Culture

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (23) ◽  
pp. 8872
Author(s):  
Ni-Hu Tang ◽  
Shang-Feng Tsai ◽  
Jaw-Horng Liou ◽  
Yuan-Hui Lai ◽  
Shih-An Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Quality Control ◽  
Patient Safety ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Safety Culture ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Safety Climate ◽  
Patient Safety Culture ◽  
Safety Attitudes ◽  
Stress Recognition

Promoting patient safety culture (PSC) is a critical issue for healthcare providers. Quality control circles program (QCCP) can be used as an effective tool to foster long-lasting improvements on the quality of medical institution. The effect of QCCP on PSC is still unknown. This was a retrospective study conducted with matching data. A safety attitudes questionnaire (SAQ) was used for the evaluation of PSC. The association between all scores of six subscales of SAQ and the participation QCCP were analyzed with both the Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests. A total of 2718 valid questionnaires were collected. Most participants of QCCP were females (78.9%), nurses (52.6%), non-supervisors (92.2%), aged <40 years old (64.8%), degree of specialist or university graduates (78%), and with work experience of <10 years (61.6%). Of all participants, the highest scores were in the dimension of safety climate (74.11 ± 17.91) and the lowest scores in the dimension of working conditions (68.90 ± 18.84). The participation of QCCP was associated with higher scores in four dimensions, namely: teamwork climate (p = 0.006), safety climate (p = 0.037), perception of management (p = 0.009), and working conditions (p = 0.015). The participation or not of QCCP had similar results in the dimension of job satisfaction and stress recognition. QCCP was associated with SAQ in subjects with the following characteristics: female, nurse, non-supervisor, aged >50 years old, higher education degrees and with longer working experiences in the hospital. In this first study on the association between each dimension of SAQ and the implementation of QCCP, we found that QCCP interventions were associated with better PSC. QCCP had no benefits in the dimensions of job satisfaction and stress recognition.

The Emergency Medical Services Safety Attitudes Questionnaire

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Daniel Patterson ◽  
David T. Huang ◽  
Rollin J. Fairbanks ◽  
Henry E. Wang
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Safety Attitudes ◽  
Safety Attitudes Questionnaire ◽  
Emergency Medical

scholarly journals Causal Relationship Analysis of the Patient Safety Culture Based on Safety Attitudes Questionnaire in Taiwan

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yii-Ching Lee ◽  
Pei-Shan Zeng ◽  
Chih-Hsuan Huang ◽  
Hsin-Hung Wu
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Patient Safety ◽  
Safety Culture ◽  
Safety Climate ◽  
Patient Safety Culture ◽  
Laboratory Method ◽  
Critical Dimensions ◽  
Safety Attitudes ◽  
Safety Attitudes Questionnaire ◽  
Relationship Analysis

This study uses the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method to identify critical dimensions of the safety attitudes questionnaire in Taiwan in order to improve the patient safety culture from experts’ viewpoints. Teamwork climate, stress recognition, and perceptions of management are three causal dimensions, while safety climate, job satisfaction, and working conditions are receiving dimensions. In practice, improvements on effect-based dimensions might receive little effects when a great amount of efforts have been invested. In contrast, improving a causal dimension not only improves itself but also results in better performance of other dimension(s) directly affected by this particular dimension. Teamwork climate and perceptions of management are found to be the most critical dimensions because they are both causal dimensions and have significant influences on four dimensions apiece. It is worth to note that job satisfaction is the only dimension affected by the other dimensions. In order to effectively enhance the patient safety culture for healthcare organizations, teamwork climate, and perceptions of management should be closely monitored.

scholarly journals Evaluating safety culture changes over time with the Emergency Medical Services Safety Attitudes Questionnaire

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuval Bitan ◽  
Philip Moran ◽  
James Harris
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Safety Culture ◽  
Emergency Care ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Safety Climate ◽  
Hospital Emergency ◽  
Safety Attitudes ◽  
Safety Attitudes Questionnaire ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Over Time

IntroductionThe correlation between patient outcomes and the safety culture in healthcare organisations draws special attention to tools that can measure safety culture in such organisations. One of the advantages of such tools is their ability to identify changes in safety climate, which can support healthcare organisations in detecting and understanding trends, which might have otherwise been overlooked. ObjectiveTo evaluate the ability of a standard survey to capture long-term safety climate changes in pre-hospital care. MethodsThe previously validated Emergency Medical Services Safety Attitudes Questionnaire was administered in one regional base hospital program, which delegates to six pre-hospital emergency care services. The survey was administered over two consecutive years, thus allowing us to measure safety climate changes over time. ResultsSignificant differences were found between the first and second years of the survey in specific services.ConclusionsWhile we cannot identify the specific causes for the change in scores in the various services between the two survey years, we can draw some inferences. We suggest that the small changes that tend to reflect a consistent change across all services are the result of training and educational initiatives, while greater changes in some of the services reflect a change in the attitude of the paramedics to the service, driven by changes in operational procedures within the service. Our findings demonstrate that the questionnaire can capture safety climate changes over time in pre-hospital emergency care.

Der Zusammenhang zwischen Sicherheitskultur und Burnout-Risiko: Eine Befragung nicht-ärztlicher Mitarbeiter im Rettungsdienst

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karsten Roth ◽  
Natalie Baier ◽  
Susanne Felgner ◽  
Reinhard Busse ◽  
Cornelia Henschke
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Maslach Burnout Inventory ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Safety Attitudes ◽  
Safety Attitudes Questionnaire ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Logistisches Regressionsmodell

Abstract Ziel der Studie Stressoren wie die Sicherheitskultur in Organisationen, die das Risiko an Burnout zu erkranken erhöhen, wurden bisher in der stationären Versorgung und in der Pflege untersucht. Betrachtungen in der präklinischen Notfallversorgung liegen hingegen nur begrenzt vor. Ziel dieser Studie ist (1) die Untersuchung des Burnout-Risikos für nicht-ärztliche Mitarbeiter des Rettungsdienstes und ihrer Wahrnehmung der Sicherheitskultur sowie (2) deren Assoziation. Methodik Unter Einsatz des Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) sowie des Emergency Medical Services Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (EMS-SAQ) wurde eine Online-Umfrage unter nicht-ärztlichen Mitarbeitern des Rettungsdienstes durchgeführt. Aufbauend auf einer deskriptiven Analyse mittels des Pearson-Korrelationskoeffizienten wurde ein logistisches Regressionsmodell verwendet, um den Zusammenhang zwischen der Sicherheitskultur und dem Burnout-Risiko zu untersuchen. Ergebnisse Es wurden n=1101 Fragebögen für die Analyse berücksichtigt. Die Mehrheit der Teilnehmer ist männlich (86,2%) und jünger als 40 Jahre (73,2%). Die Teilnehmer zeigen für die Dimensionen emotionale Erschöpfung (EE) sowie Depersonalisierung (DP) ein hohes Risiko an Burnout zu erkranken (26,3 bzw. 40,2%). Im Rahmen der Erfassung der Sicherheitskultur werden im Besonderen das Management des Rettungsdienstbereiches, die Arbeitsbedingungen und das Sicherheitsklima von der Mehrheit der Teilnehmer als negativ wahrgenommen. Die Wahrnehmung von Stress (EE: OR=3,317, p<0,01; DP: OR=1,910, p<0,01), eine negative Arbeitszufriedenheit (EE: OR=0,297, p<0,01; DP: OR=0,576, p<0,01) sowie als schlecht empfundene Arbeitsbedingungen (EE: OR 0,598, p<0,05; DP: 0,937, p<0,05) sind signifikant in den Dimensionen EE und DP mit einem hohen Burnout-Risiko assoziiert. Schlussfolgerung Diese Studie erhebt als erste in einem großen Umfang die Sicherheitskultur und das Burnout-Risiko bei nicht-ärztlichen Mitarbeitern im Rettungsdienst in Deutschland und untersucht deren Zusammenhang. Die Ergebnisse zeigen die Notwendigkeit Faktoren der Sicherheitskultur in Organisationen in den Fokus zu rücken und Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, um den Stress für Mitarbeiter zu mildern sowie die Arbeitszufriedenheit und -bedingungen zu verbessern und damit einem Burnout der Mitarbeiter präventiv vorzubeugen. Dies ist v. a. in Anbetracht des stetig steigenden Fachkräftemangels und mit Blick auf Patientensicherheit und Ergebnisqualität in der Versorgung notwendig.

It’s Time to Talk to Prehospital Providers: Feedback Disparities among Ground-Based Emergency Medical Services Providers and its Impact on Job Satisfaction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Sarayna S. McGuire ◽  
Anuradha Luke ◽  
Aaron B. Klassen ◽  
Lucas A. Myers ◽  
Aidan F. Mullan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Performance Feedback ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
The Past ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Overall Job Satisfaction

Abstract Objective: Performance feedback on clinical care and patient outcomes is a cornerstone of medical education, yet it remains lacking in the prehospital environment. Research seeking to establish the quantity of feedback provided to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has been limited and studies focused on complimentary feedback or how feedback relates to EMS job satisfaction are lacking. The objectives of this study were to measure the frequency and nature of feedback received by EMS agencies and to identify the importance of receiving feedback as it relates to EMS job satisfaction. Methods: This was an anonymous, survey-based study of twenty-nine Basic Life Support (BLS) and fifteen Advanced Life Support (ALS) agencies located in Southeastern Minnesota (USA). Descriptive statistics and Fisher exact tests were used. The study was deemed exempt by the Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board. Results: Ninety-four responses were included from nineteen different EMS agencies, including sixty-one (64.9%) paramedics and thirty-three (35.1%) emergency medical technicians (EMTs). One-half of all respondents reported that they had not received any type of feedback in the past 30 days, while another 43.6% of respondents indicated that they had only received feedback one to three times in the same time period. Twenty (60.6%) EMTs reported receiving no feedback in the past 30 days, compared with twenty-seven (44.3%) paramedics (P = .123). Of respondents receiving feedback, 65.9% reported never or rarely receiving positive reinforcing feedback and 60.6% reported never or rarely receiving constructive criticism or feedback regarding something that did not go well with patient care or transport. The majority of respondents were dissatisfied with the quantity (86.1%) and quality (73.4%) of feedback received. An overwhelming majority (93.6%) indicated that feedback on patient care or outcomes was important in influencing their overall job satisfaction. This high importance was maintained across all demographic groups. Conclusion: Within the cohort of survey respondents, a paucity of feedback received by EMS personnel is a source of dissatisfaction for EMS providers. Feedback on patient care strongly relates to overall job satisfaction. These findings suggest system-wide opportunities for structured feedback processes, focusing upon both quality and quantity of delivered feedback, to improve both patient care and staff satisfaction.

Job Stressors and Job Satisfaction in a Major Metropolitan Public EMS Service

1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 32-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Shelby Bowron ◽  
Knox H. Todd
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Career Choice ◽  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Advanced Life Support ◽  
Emergency Medical Technicians ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Job Stressors ◽  
Emergency Medical

AbstractIntroduction:Behavioral and social science research suggests that job satisfaction and job performance are positively correlated. It is important that Emergency Medical Services managers identify predictors of job satisfaction in order to maximize job performance among prehospital personnel.Purpose:Identify job stressors that predict the level of job satisfaction among prehospital personnel.Methods:The study was conducted with in a large, urban Emergency Medical Services (Emergency Medical Services) service performing approximately 60,000 Advanced Life Support (Advanced Life Support) responses annually. Using focus groups and informal interviews, potential predictors of global job satisfaction were identified. These factors included: interactions with hospital nurses and physicians; on-line communications; dispatching; training provided by the ambulance service; relationship with supervisors and; standing orders as presently employed by the ambulance service. These factors were incorporated into a 21 item questionnaire including one item measuring global job satisfaction, 14 items measuring potential predictors of satisfaction, and seven questions exploring demographic information such as age, gender, race, years of experience, and years with the company. The survey was administered to all paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (Emergency Medical Technicians s) Results of the survey were analyzed using univariate and multivariate techniques to identify predictors of global job satisfaction.Results:Ninety paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians participated in the study, a response rate of 57.3%. Job satisfaction was cited as extremely satisfying by 11%, very satisfying by 29%, satisfying by 45%, and not satisfying by 15% of respondents. On univariate analysis, only the quality of training, quality of physician interaction, and career choice were associated with global job satisfaction. On multivariate analysis, only career choice (p = 0.005) and quality of physician interaction (p = 0.05) were predictive of global job satisfactionConclusion:Quality of career choice and interactions with physicians are predictive of global job satisfaction within this urban emergency medical service (Emergency Medical Technicians). Future studies should examine specific characteristics of the physician-paramedic interface that influence job satisfaction and attempt to generalize these results to other settings.

scholarly journals Application of Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) in Adult Intensive Care Units: a cross-sectional study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah S. Alqahtani ◽  
Rachel Evley
Keyword(s):  
Safety Culture ◽  
Safety Climate ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Safety Attitudes ◽  
Safety Attitudes Questionnaire ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Mean

AbstractPurposeTo achieve a positive safety culture, staff perception of safety must be frequently measured. There are several active and reactive methods to use to measure safety cultures such as near-miss occurrence, accidental data collection, measuring behavior, self-report method, and safety questionnaires. The safety attitudes questionnaire (SAQ) tool was used to measure safety culture. This tool is widely used in literature and among researchers and has been used and validated in middle eastern cultures. In addition, it has a validated Arabic version.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using anonymous and random sampling. I surveyed all ICU staff working in all the adult ICUs in two of the major hospitals in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. The short version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire was used to assess participants’ attitudes towards safety culture. The study involved all healthcare providers working in Adult ICU.ResultsThe study occurred over a three-week period in March 2019. A total of 82 completed questionnaires were returned which represented a response rate of 82%. On average, the domain that scored the highest number of positive responses was Job satisfaction with 68.5%, followed by teamwork climate 67.8%, then working conditions 60.1%, 57.1% safety climate, then preparation of management with 53.4%, and finally 46% in Stress recognition. A statistically significant difference was found between the mean SAQ score and the educational level of the participants. Participants with bachelor’s degrees scored a mean of 50.17 compared to participants hold diploma degrees who scored a mean of 68.81 (P=0.02). Moreover, a significant difference was found between the mean SAQ score and participants’ specialties. Attending/Staff Physician mean score was 36.40, Nurse Manager/Charge Nurse scored 39.78, and Respiratory therapist mean score was 47.88, compared to mean score of 62.27 for Registered Nurse, and Respiratory supervisor 67.0 (P=0.04). In addition, 79.2% of the respondents did not report any incidents in the last 12 months.ConclusionsThe result of the study shows an unsatisfying level of safety culture among healthcare staff in ICUs. The importance of this study is to establish a baseline for safety climate in these hospitals and specifically ICUs. In addition, by exposing the system weaknesses it helps the administration to strengthen and improve patient care. By decreasing workload and job stress, studies show they have a positive association with increasing job performance.

scholarly journals Could low Safety Attitudes Questionnaire scores be indicative of an environment where it may be difficult to get new training practices established?

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-59
Author(s):  
Sarah Channing ◽  
Neil Ryan ◽  
Sophie Barnes ◽  
Kate Collins ◽  
Helen van der Nelson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Safety Culture ◽  
Safety Climate ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Team Training ◽  
Multiprofessional Team ◽  
Safety Attitudes ◽  
Safety Attitudes Questionnaire ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Impact

IntroductionSimulation-based, multiprofessional team training (SBMPTT) is used widely in healthcare, with evidence that it can improve clinical outcomes and be associated with a positive safety culture. Our aim was to explore the impact of introducing this type of training to a gynaecological team.MethodsIn this interrupted time-series study, ‘Safety Attitudes Questionnaire’ (SAQ) data was collected both before and after SBMPTT was introduced to a gynaecological team.ResultsLow baseline SAQ scores coincided with difficulty in establishing the training, meaning that at the end of our study period only a small proportion of staff had actually attended a training session. Despite trends towards improvement in scores for safety climate, teamwork climate and job satisfaction, no statistically significant difference was observed. There was however an improved perception of the level of collaboration between nursing staff and doctors after the introduction of training.Conclusions and DiscussionIn this paper we explore a hypothesis that low baseline SAQ scores may highlight that the multiprofessional teams most in need of training work in environments where it is more challenging to implement. There is evidence from other specialties that multiprofessional team training works, now we need to understand how to address the barriers to getting it started. In this paper we suggest how the SAQ could be used as a directive tool for improvement; using the detailed analysis of the local safety culture it provides to both inform future training design and also provide management with an objective marker of progress.

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