Patient safety climate in a Brazilian general hospital

To measure patient safety climate and the associated factors from the perspective of the multiprofessional team.

This was an analytical cross-sectional study, developed in a medium-sized hospital in the Southern region of Brazil. The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) was used as the data collection tool and applied to 199 workers of the multiprofessional and support team between November 2017 and February 2018. Data analysis was descriptive and analytical. A positive score was considered when ≥75.

The overall SAQ score was positive (75.1). The domain Satisfaction at Work was the one with the highest score (88.7), while Stress Perception showed the worst score (59.1). It was observed that professionals without a College/University degree better evaluated the domains Satisfaction at Work, Management Perception and Working Conditions, whereas the ones with a College/University degree had better stress perception. Medical doctors showed better Stress Perception when compared to the other health professionals.

There is a positive safety climate in health organizations from the perspective of the multiprofessional team. However, the domains Safety Climate, Working Conditions and Stress Perception constitute areas that need improvement in terms of patient safety in the institution.