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Table 3 Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture percent positive scores by post-fall huddle participation

From: The impact of post-fall huddles on repeat fall rates and perceptions of safety culture: a quasi-experimental evaluation of a patient safety demonstration project

Dimensions and Items

Post-Fall Huddle Participation

p Value

Yes

(n varies 218 to 221) a

No

(n varies 357 to 368) a

Overall perception of Safety (α = .92)

76

76

.83

 1. Patient safety is never sacrificed to get more work done.

72

75

.50

 2. Our procedures and systems are good at preventing errors from happening.

82

79

.40

 3. It is just by chance that more serious mistakes don’t happen around here.b

76

71

.16

 4. We have patient safety problems in this department.b

75

79

.27

Frequency of Events Reported (α = .97)

70

66

.48

 1. When a mistake is made, but is caught and corrected before affecting the patient, how often is this reported?

58

58

.93

 2. When a mistake is made, but has no potential to harm the patient, how often is this reported?

70

63

.09

 3. When a mistake is made that could harm the patient, but does not, how often is this reported?

81

77

.17

Supervisor/Manager Expectations & Actions Promoting Patient Safety (α = .92)

83

80

.88

 1. My supervisor/manager says a good word when he/she sees a job done according to established patient safety procedures.

73

74

.70

 2. My supervisor/manager seriously considers staff suggestions for improving patient safety.

85

81

.25

 3. Whenever pressure builds up, my supervisor/ manager wants us to work faster, even if it means taking shortcuts.b

88

83

.10

 4. My supervisor/manager overlooks patient safety problems that happen over and over.b

84

82

.43

Organizational Learning—Continuous Improvement (α = .86)

85

79

.10

 1. We are actively doing things to improve patient safety.

96

91

.03

 2. Mistakes have led to positive changes here.

77

71

.08

 3. After we make changes to improve patient safety, we evaluate their effectiveness.

83

74

.01

Teamwork Within Departments (α = .92)

87

85

.63

 1. People support one another in this department.

91

92

.80

 2. When a lot of work needs to be done quickly, we work together as a team to get the work done.

94

94

.94

 3. In this department, people treat each other with respect.

85

81

.17

 4. When one area in this department gets really busy, others help out.

77

74

.35

Communication Openness (α = .90)

64

63

.88

 1. Staff will freely speak up if they see something that may negatively affect patient care.

78

79

.89

 2. Staff feel free to question the decisions or actions of those with more authority.

52

46

.16

 3. Staff are afraid to ask questions when something does not seem right.b

63

64

.74

Feedback and Communication About Error (α = .84)

69

68

.71

 1. We are given feedback about changes put into place based on event reports.

61

56

.27

 2. We are informed about errors that happen in this department.

68

71

.50

 3. In this department, we discuss ways to prevent errors from happening again.

79

78

.69

Nonpunitive Response to Error (α = .87)

64

56

.05

 1. Staff feel like their mistakes are held against them.b

70

63

.07

 2. When an event is reported, it feels like the person is being written up, not the problem.b

69

56

<.001

 3. Staff worry that mistakes they make are kept in their personnel file.b

54

49

.17

Staffing (α = .96)

73

69

.31

 1. We have enough staff to handle the workload.

76

70

.14

 2. Staff in this department work longer hours than is best for patient care.b

61

58

.59

 3. We use more agency/temporary staff than is best for patient care.b

80

78

.52

 4. We work in “crisis mode” trying to do too much, too quickly.b

73

68

.27

Hospital Management Support for Patient Safety (α = .92)

83

80

.10

 1. Hospital management provides a work climate that promotes patient safety.

93

89

.13

 2. The actions of hospital management show that patient safety is a top priority.

83

81

.48

 3. Hospital management seems interested in patient safety only after an adverse event happens.b

73

69

.35

Teamwork Across Hospital Departments (α = .88)

75

66

.011

 1. There is good cooperation among hospital departments that need to work together.

76

67

.02

 2. Hospital departments work well together to provide the best care for patients.

86

76

.003

 3. Hospital departments do not coordinate well with each other.b

62

52

.02

 4. It is often unpleasant to work with staff from other hospital departments.b

77

67

.01

Hospital Handoffs and Transitions (α = .96)

61

52

.07

 1. Things “fall between the cracks” when transferring patients from one department to another.b

59

50

.04

 2. Important patient care information is often lost during shift changes.b

63

50

.003

 3. Problems often occur in the exchange of information across hospital departments.b

60

50

.03

 4. Shift changes are problematic for patients in this hospital.b

63

57

.15

  1. Bold P values indicate differences between groups that are statistically significant at p < .05 or of interest with p ≤ .10
  2. aNumber of respondents varies for each dimension due to the requirement to complete at least three items to calculate the dimension percent positive score
  3. bReverse-worded item