Association of safety culture with surgical site infection outcomes.
Safety culture is widely measured and discussed, but its link to patient outcomes has not been consistently demonstrated. Surgical site infections are considered preventable adverse events. In this cross-sectional study, investigators found that better safety culture was associated with lower rates of surgical site infections after colon surgery. Specifically, aspects of safety culture associated with teamwork, communication, engaged leadership, and nonpunitive response to error were linked to fewer infections. Although this work does not establish a clear cause-and-effect relationship between safety culture and patient outcomes, it suggests that efforts to enhance safety culture could improve patient outcomes.