Patient safety climate: evaluation of university hospital emergency team

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the climate of patient safety from the perspective of emergency room workers (ER) at a university hospital. Method: a cross-sectional survey, carried out between February and June 2019, using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire Short Form (SAQ) to a sample of 27 workers working at the ER of a university hospital in Paraná, Brazil. A descriptive analysis was performed to the tabulated data, respecting the minimum average score (75 points) for positive/negative assessment of the safety climate. Results: women workers (63%) and nursing technicians (56%) prevailed. The average overall SAQ score among the team was 62.5 ± 36 points. In the analysis by dimensions/domains, only “job satisfaction” (80.9 ± 29.1) and “teamwork” (75.5 ± 29) obtained positive scores. The worst domain assessed was “management perception” (44.9 ± 35.8). In the assessment by professional categories, the most positive was of administrative workers (67.4 ± 30.8) and the negative, of nurses (54.9 ± 36.4). Conclusion: the evaluation of the security climate in the ER pointed out many weaknesses, both if appreciated by domains and by professional categories.