Operating room professionals’ attitudes towards patient safety and the influencing factors

OBJECTIVE: To determine operating room professionals’attitudes towards patient safety and the influencing factors. METHODS: This study was conducted in research hospitals in Izmir, Turkey using descriptive, cross-sectional and correlation research designs. The sample of this study consisted of 477 individuals including nurses, physicians and anesthesia technicians. Data were collected using the Sociodemographic and Working Characteristics Form and the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics method, and Pearson’s correlation and the multiple regression models were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Operating room professionals’ attitudes towards patient safety were at moderate levels. Regarding the influencing factors, team cooperation obtained the highest score, whereas stress recognition obtained the lowest score. As a result of the regression analysis, age, male gender and receiving patient safety training explains 15.4% of the professionals’ safety attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: Receiving patient safety training was found to be the most important variable of all.