Applying Theory of Planned Behavior in Predicting of Patient Safety Behaviors of Nurses

BACKGROUND: Patient safety has become a major concern throughout the world. It is the absence of preventable harm to a patient during the process of health care, ensuring safer care is an enormous challenge, psychosocial variables influences behaviors of human. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is a well-validated behavioral decision-making model that has been used to predict social and health behaviors. This study is aimed to investigate predictors of nurse’s patient safety intentions and behavior, using a TPB framework. METHODS: Stratified sampling technique was used to choose 124 nurses who worked at the selected hospitals of Isfahan in 2011. Study tool was a questionnaire, designed by researchers team including 3 nurses a physician and a psychologist based on guideline of TPB model. Questionnaire Validity was confirmed by experts and its reliability was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha as 0.87. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate how well each TPB variables predicted the variance in patient safety behavior. Analyzing was done by SPSS18. RESULTS: Finding revealed that “normative beliefs” had the greatest influence on nurses intention to implement patient safety behaviors. Analyzing data by hospital types and workplace wards showed that both in public and private hospitals normative beliefs has affected safety behaviors of nurses more than other variables. Also in surgical wards, nurses behaviors have been affected by “control beliefs” and in medical wards by normative beliefs. CONCLUSION: Normative beliefs, and subjective norms were the most influential factor of safety behavior of nurses in this study. Considering the role of cultural context in these issues, it seemseducation of managers and top individuals about patient safety and its importance is a priority also control believes were another important predicting factor of behavior in surgical wards and intensive care units. Regarding the complexity of work in these spaces, applying medical guidelines and effective supervision must be seriously followed.