@article{9055, author = {Christine W. Hartmann and Amy K. Rosen and Mark Meterko and Priti Shokeen and Shibei Zhao and Sara J. Singer and Alyson Falwell and David M. Gaba}, title = {An overview of patient safety climate in the VA.}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: To assess variation in safety climate across VA hospitals nationally.

STUDY SETTING: Data were collected from employees at 30 VA hospitals over a 6-month period using the Patient Safety Climate in Healthcare Organizations survey.

STUDY DESIGN: We sampled 100 percent of senior managers and physicians and a random 10 percent of other employees. At 10 randomly selected hospitals, we sampled an additional 100 percent of employees working in units with intrinsically higher hazards (high-hazard units [HHUs]).

DATA COLLECTION: Data were collected using an anonymous survey design.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We received 4,547 responses (49 percent response rate). The percent problematic response--lower percent reflecting higher levels of patient safety climate--ranged from 12.0-23.7 percent across hospitals (mean=17.5 percent). Differences in safety climate emerged by management level, clinician status, and workgroup. Supervisors and front-line staff reported lower levels of safety climate than senior managers; clinician responses reflected lower levels of safety climate than those of nonclinicians; and responses of employees in HHUs reflected lower levels of safety climate than those of workers in other areas.

CONCLUSIONS: This is the first systematic study of patient safety climate in VA hospitals. Findings indicate an overall positive safety climate across the VA, but there is room for improvement.

}, year = {2008}, journal = {Health Serv Res}, volume = {43}, pages = {1263-84}, month = {08/2008}, issn = {1475-6773}, doi = {10.1111/j.1475-6773.2008.00839.x}, language = {eng}, }