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

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.

Author(s):  
Anu Venesoja ◽  
Veronica Lindström ◽  
Pasi Aronen ◽  
Maaret Castrén ◽  
Susanna Tella

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.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah S. Alqahtani ◽  
Rachel Evley

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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-59
Author(s):  
Sarah Channing ◽  
Neil Ryan ◽  
Sophie Barnes ◽  
Kate Collins ◽  
Helen van der Nelson ◽  
...  

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yii-Ching Lee ◽  
Pei-Shan Zeng ◽  
Chih-Hsuan Huang ◽  
Hsin-Hung Wu

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.


10.3823/2344 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alcides Viana De Lima Neto ◽  
Micheline Da Fonseca Silva ◽  
Suzane Gomes De Medeiros ◽  
Mayara Lima Barbosa ◽  
Pétala Tuani Candido De Oliveira Salvado ◽  
...  

Objective: identify and map the forms to evaluate the patient safety culture in health organizations. Method: scoping review, developed based on the method proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. Data collection occurred in June 2016 in 15 international databases. Descriptive statistics was used for data analysis. Results: the sample consisted of 75 publications. Among the eleven instruments identified to evaluate the safety culture, the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture questionnaire and the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire had the greatest international repercussion, since they were adapted, validated and used in different continents and contexts. Conclusion: The synthesis of the instruments enabled clarifying their characteristics, and how they can be important tools to support and accompany changes in the safety culture over time. Descriptors: Patient’s safety; Organizational culture; Nursing;


2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 203-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zalika Klemenc-Ketiš ◽  
Ellen Tveter Deilkås ◽  
Dag Hofoss ◽  
Gunnar Tschudi Bondevik

Abstract Introduction Patient safety culture is a concept which describes how leader and staff interaction, attitudes, routines and practices protect patients from adverse events in healthcare. We aimed to investigate patient safety culture in Slovenian out-of-hours health care (OOHC) clinics, and determine the possible factors that might be associated with it. Methods This was a cross-sectional study, which took place in Slovenian OOHC, as part of the international study entitled Patient Safety Culture in European Out-of-Hours Services (SAFE-EUR-OOH). All the OOHC clinics in Slovenia (N=60) were invited to participate, and 37 agreed to do so; 438 employees from these clinics were invited to participate. We used the Slovenian version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire – an ambulatory version (SAQAV) to measure the climate of safety. Results Out of 438 invited participants, 250 answered the questionnaire (57.1% response rate). The mean overall score ± standard deviation of the SAQ was 56.6±16.0 points, of Perceptions of Management 53.6±19.6 points, of Job Satisfaction 48.5±18.3 points, of Safety Climate 59.1±22.1 points, of Teamwork Climate 72.7±16.6, and of Communication 51.5±23.4 points. Employees working in the Ravne na Koroškem region, employees with variable work shifts, and those with full-time jobs scored significantly higher on the SAQ-AV. Conclusion The safety culture in Slovenian OOHC clinics needs improvement. The variations in the safety culture factor scores in Slovenian OOHC clinics point to the need to eliminate variations and improve working conditions in Slovenian OOHC clinics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 252-258
Author(s):  
Paloma Aparecida Carvalho ◽  
Carla Albina Soares Laundos ◽  
Juliana Ventura Souza Juliano ◽  
Luiz Augusto Casulari ◽  
Leila Bernarda Donato Gottems

ABSTRACT Objective: to assess the perception of health professionals regarding safety culture of a high complexity public hospital of the Federal District, Brazil. Method: cross-sectional and descriptive study. The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire was used in electronic format. Descriptive and inferential analyses were carried out. Results: 358 professionals participated, with 242 (67.6%) being female. Of these, 224 (62.6%) worked directly or indirectly with patients in assistance activities; 79 (22.1%) in administrative activities; 14 (3.9%) in management; and 41 (11.5%) in others. The total score was 57.1. Job satisfaction factors and stress perception had the most expressive results, 76.2 and 68.8, respectively. The category "working conditions" presented the lowest result, 40.7. Conclusion: the results are below the score of 75, value recommended as indicative of a positive safety atmosphere. We suggest the implementation of actions for the promotion of safety culture and new studies with representative samples of all segments of workers.


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