[Perception of patient safety culture in a high-complexity hospital and improvement actions]

The culture of patient safety is reflected in the behavior of individuals within a healthcare organization, based on knowledge, beliefs, and values aimed at minimizing the harm that patients might suffer. Assessing the perception of safety culture helps in developing and implementing improvement actions.

A descriptive study conducted in two phases. A patient safety culture questionnaire measuring three dimensions of the safety culture was administered, and improvement actions were developed based on the results.

300 responses were obtained, with a response rate of 10.2%. 70% were women, 40% were physicians, and 38% were nurses. 37% reported having worked at the hospital for more than 20years. The management support for patient safety dimension received 33% (CI: 29.5-35.7) of positive responses and 27% (CI: 24.3-30.2) of negative responses. The patient safety perception dimension received 67% (CI: 63.8-70.01) of positive responses and 20% (CI: 17.4-22.8) of negative responses. The supervisor/department head support for patient safety dimension received 61% (CI: 57.4-63.9) of positive responses and 19% (CI: 16.3-21.5) of negative responses. After presenting the results to the management team, improvement actions were proposed, which led to greater commitment from the management team to patient safety, increased presence during patient safety rounds, and greater visibility of patient safety-related information available on the intranet.

A low perception of management support was detected, allowing for improvements in this dimension.