Survey and analysis of patient safety culture in a county hospital

Objective:This study aimed to survey patient safety culture in a county hospital and to pro-vide evidence for strategies to improve patient safety culture.Methods:Nine hundred and thirty-two medical staff in a county hospital were surveyed with use of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture.Information was analyzed by one-way ANO-VA and multiple linear regression analysis.Results:Nine hundred and thirty-two questionnaires were distributed,of which 661 of those returned were valid.The subscale-level results showed that the positive response rate for“team-work across units”was higher than 75.0%,indicating it was an area of strength.Five areas-“non-punitive response to error,”“staffing,”“communication openness,”“overall perceptions of patient safety,”and“frequency of event reporting”-had potential for improvement,with a positive re-sponsive rate lower than 50%.Twenty-nine percent of respondents gave their work area a patient safety grade of“excellent”or“very good.”Further,60.1%of respondents had reported no event in the previous 12 months.Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that position and number of years working in this hospital were the factors influencing patient safety culture.Conclusion:Patient safety culture in the county hospital has potential for improvement,especially in the areas of“nonpunitive response to error,”“staffing,”“overall perceptions of patient safety,”“communication openness,”and“frequency of event reporting.”