The relationship between management safety commitment and patient safety culture

The study aims to explore the relationship between management safety commitment and patient safety culture using data from a Chinese hospital.

Developing a positive patient safety culture has been suggested as an important strategy to improve the quality of health services and patient safety. Management safety commitment has been identified as key to establishing a culture of safety. However, little empirical evidence could be found in the literature to substantiate the relationship between management safety commitment and patient safety culture. Even less is known about the relationship in a Chinese hospital setting.

The study used a correlational research methodology with a cross-sectional survey design. A total of 248 registered nurses, including 20 nurse managers and 228 staff nurses, were surveyed using self-administered questionnaires. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to explore the relationship between management safety commitment and patient safety culture.

The mean score of safety commitment was 8.38 on a 0-10 visual analogue scale. The mean score of patient safety culture was 148.66. Staff nurses scored patient safety culture significantly lower than those of nurse managers (F = 18.88, P < 0.01). In addition, management safety commitment was significantly related to patient safety culture (r = 0.46, P < 0.01) and was an important predictor of patient safety culture (F = 65.29, P < 0.01).

The findings provide significant empirical evidence that management safety commitment is associated with the culture of patient safety. Thus, to build a positive safety culture, managers need to visibly commit to patient safety and be a role model to ensure patient safety.