A cross-sectional study to assess the patient safety culture in the Palestinian hospitals: a baseline assessment for quality improvement

OBJECTIVES: To measure and establish a baseline assessment of the patient safety culture in the Palestinian hospitals. DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive study using the Arabic version of the Safety Attitude Questionnaire (Short Form 2006). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 339 nurses and physicians returned the questionnaire out of 370 achieving a response rate of 91.6%. SETTING: Four public general hospitals in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. METHODS: Nurses and physicians were randomly selected using a proportionate random sampling. Data analysis performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 20, and p value less than 0.05 was statistically significant. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Current status of patient safety culture among healthcare providers and percentage of positive attitudes. RESULTS: Male to female ratio was 2.16:1, and mean age was 36.5 ± 9.4 years. The mean score of Arabic Safety Attitude Questionnaire across the six dimensions on 100-point scale ranged between 68.5 for Job Satisfaction and 48.5 for Working Condition. The percentage of respondents holding a positive attitude was 34.5% for Teamwork Climate, 28.4% for Safety Climate, 40.7% for Stress Recognition, 48.8% for Job Satisfaction, 11.3% for Working Conditions and 42.8% for Perception of Management. Healthcare workers holding positive attitudes had better collaboration with co-workers than those without positive attitudes. CONCLUSION: Findings are useful to formulate a policy on patient safety culture and targeted a specific safety culture dimension to improve the safety of patients and improve the clinical outcomes within healthcare organisations.