Relationship between Workload Using WANE Tool and Patient Safety Culture in Emergency Nurses

Nurses in emergency departments are under high levels of work pressure that reduces the quality of care and patient safety. This study aimed to investigate the nurses’ workload using the WANE tool and determine the relationship between that and patient safety culture in selected hospitals affiliated with Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences.

This cross-sectional study was performed in 106 nurses working at emergency departments in 2021 selected via convenience sampling. Data were collected using the Persian forms of Workload Assessment of Nurses on Emergency (WANE) and Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPS). Data analysis was carried out in SPSS V25.

The mean values for burden of direct care and indirect care were 13.38±6.5% and 19.53±5.7% of the total 24-hour care time. Direct care burdon was higher in the morning at Heart Hospital and in the afternoon at Sari Imam Khomeini Hospital and Zare Hospital. Indirect care in the afternoon was found to create the highest burdon at all hospitals. The total score for patient safety culture in all nurses studied was 136.04±15.6. The most direct and indirect care times in 24 hours was related to nurses with moderate level score for patient safety culture (138 to169), (210.44±103.8 and 303.11±95.68, respectively). Findings showed a direct relationship between patient safety culture and direct care and indirect care (r=0.211, P≥0.030 and r=0.309, P≥0.001).

Using the WANE tool is recommended for measuring the accuracy of direct and indirect nursing care time. The workload of emergency nurses can be reduced as much as possible by modifying the physical environment, accurate performance assesment, and assigning the computerized tasks to non-nursing personnel.