Attitude of Academic Ambulatory Nurses toward Patient Safety Culture in Saudi Arabia

Patient safety issues in Saudi Arabia have received increasing attention. Pressures to improve patient safety within academic healthcare settings are gaining momentum daily. Health care organization providers and policy makers continually strive to promote patient safety culture. The purpose of this study was to examine the nurses’ attitude toward patient safety culture in academic ambulatory healthcare settings in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional correlational descriptive design, using the Safety Attitude Questionnaire Ambulatory version (SAQ-A), was carried out in year 2010. The survey was distributed to four ambulatory academic departments, which included medical, surgical, obstetrics/gynecological, and pediatric in Riyadh. All 250 available (not on vacation or deployed out of the area) ambulatory care staff nurses and nurse managers were recruited yielding 221 responses with a response rate of 88%. Results: The highest positive attitudes were toward job satisfaction and the work experience. Working conditions and the quality of the work environment and its logistical support received the second highest positive attitudes. However, the quality of collaboration between personnel and the proactive organizational commitment to safety had the lowest positive attitudes among nurses. Strong significant relationship was indicated between job satisfaction among nurses and work conditions. Statistically significant differences in mean scores were observed for registered nurse toward stress recognition and acknowledgement of the effects of stress on patient safety than nurse mangers. Recommendations: Enhancing the quality of collaboration between personnel and the proactive organizational commitment to safety may promote safety culture in academic care settings. Assessment of workplace safety culture is the first step in identifying barriers that nurses face to provide safe patient care. Improving safety culture attitudes in academic settings can take a considerable amount of effort and resources