Hospital Employees View Patient Safety Culture Differently According to Their Role.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety Research
• Organizational Behavior

Background:

• Patient safety culture is vital for high-quality healthcare.
• Limited research exists on how employee roles influence perceptions of patient safety culture.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between employee role and patient safety culture.
• To identify differences in patient safety culture perceptions across various hospital roles.

Main Methods:

• Utilized cross-sectional data from the 2021-2022 Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPS).
• Analyzed data from 245,252 respondents across 371 hospitals.
• Employed OLS regression models to assess patient safety culture aspects by employee role, controlling for relevant characteristics.

Main Results:

• C-suite/senior leaders reported the most positive patient safety culture perceptions.
• Managers/supervisors were most likely to report safety events; unit staff were least likely.
• Physicians reported low ratings for communication and improvement; care aides for teamwork and staffing; nurses for management support; pharmacists for handoffs.

Conclusions:

• Significant differences exist in patient safety culture perceptions based on employee role.
• There is a need to improve safety culture for direct care providers and enhance cross-role communication.
• Hospitals should implement targeted strategies to address specific role-based challenges in patient safety.