Surgical residents' perceptions of patient safety climate in Dutch teaching hospitals

Explicit attention to patient safety during surgical training is needed to improve patient safety. A positive safety climate is associated with greater patient safety and is a requisite for safety teaching at the workplace. The Safety Climate Survey (SCS) measures perceptions of safety climate. This study aims to take a first step in validating the SCS for use among surgical residents in the Netherlands and to highlight opportunities for safety climate improvement through changes in surgical training in the Netherlands. It therefore assesses (1) if the SCS can be used to assess surgical residents' perceptions of the safety climate in Dutch teaching hospitals; and (2) how, according to SCS results, these residents perceive the safety climate in Dutch teaching hospitals.

In a cross-sectional study conducted in February 2011, a Dutch translation of the SCS was administered to all general surgical residents in the Netherlands. Face validity and internal consistency were assessed, as were overall mean, means per item and significant differences in means between different groups of respondents.

In total, 306 of 390 (78%) residents completed the questionnaire. The SCS showed good face validity and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.87). Residents reported an overall mean of 3.95 (standard deviation 0.51) out of a maximum score of 5.00, and 52% reported an overall mean of 4.00 or higher. Women and residents working in university hospitals gave significantly lower scores. Significant differences were also found among hospitals and among regions. Majority of the items scored less than 4.00.

The SCS is potentially useful to measure surgical residents' perceptions of the patient safety climate in Dutch teaching hospitals. There is considerable room for improvement of the patient safety climate. Surgical training should include better feedback, formal patient safety teaching sessions at the workplace and specific attention to patient safety during the introduction in a new hospital, and supervisors should encourage surgical residents to report any patient safety concern they may have.