Attitude toward the Patient Safety Culture in healthcare systems

Patient Safety Culture (PSC) involves a harmonious pattern of individual and organization behaviors based on common beliefs and values. This study aimed to evaluate the attitude of healthcare providers toward PSC in the hospitals and clinics of Zabol city, Iran.
This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015. Sample population consisted of the physicians, nurses, and paraclinical staff (radiologists and laboratory experts) engaged in different healthcare centers of Zabol city, Iran. Data were collected using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) questionnaire. Data analysis was performed in SPSS V.22 at the significance level of 0.05.
In total, 231 healthcare practitioners were enrolled in this study. Participants were divided into three groups of physicians, nurses, and paraclinical staff (n=77, 33.33%). Mean of age and clinical experience was 29.94 and 6.23 years, respectively. Among the main aspects of PSC, “general understanding of patient safety” had the highest mean score (13.53), and the lowest mean score was achieved in “non-punitive response to error” (8.89). In the aspect of “manager expectations and actions promoting safety”, a significant difference was observed in the mean scores of the study groups (P=0.030). Moreover, our results showed a significant difference between the mean scores of physicians and nurses in the aspect of “openness and honesty in communication” (P=0.023).
According to the results of this study, improvement of PSC is necessary for the efficient management of hospitals and clinics. This is attainable through collaborative and instructive workshops, developing educational programs, and designing incident reporting systems.