Assessing Nurses' Attitudes Regarding to Factors Related to Hospitalized Patient Safety

Abstract

Background: A strong patient safety culture is essential for minimizing adverse events and improving healthcare quality. This study examines factors influencing patient safety culture among nurses in university hospitals, with a focus on teamwork climate, job satisfaction, stress recognition, and perceptions of management.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted across medical and surgical wards in public hospitals. Using stratified sampling, a total of 3,605 Safety Attitudes Questionnaires (SAQ-SF) were distributed to nurses , resulting in 1,133 valid responses. The SAQ-SF, comprising six subscales—teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, stress recognition, perceptions of management, and work conditions—was administered, and responses were analyzed using MANOVA and regression models.
Results: Stress recognition (SR) had the highest scores (nurses: 71.9,), while work conditions (WC) scored the lowest (nurses: 45.82). Significant differences emerged in attitudes by profession, gender, ward type, and experience level, men, and experienced staff reporting higher positive attitudes. Staff in surgical wards scored higher in stress recognition compared to those in medical wards. A regression analysis showed that for each additional 10 hospital beds, stress recognition scores increased by 2.5 points, while job satisfaction decreased by 1.6 points.
Conclusion: This study reveals distinct variations in safety attitudes among healthcare professionals, emphasizing the need for tailored interventions to enhance patient safety culture across ward types and staff demographics. Strengthening safety culture through targeted support for nurses and junior staff, improvements in work conditions, and organizational commitment can enhance patient safety outcomes and overall healthcare quality.