# Patient safety culture among the nursing staff and quality assurance managers at Gauteng public hospitals

## TL;DR

This study assesses patient safety culture among nursing staff and managers in South African hospitals, finding moderate support in some areas but highlighting the need for improvement.

## Contribution

The study provides insights into patient safety culture in Gauteng public hospitals, identifying specific areas needing improvement.

## Key findings

- Three dimensions showed high positive response rates: supervisor support, handoffs, and teamwork.
- Five dimensions had low positive response rates, including communication openness and management support.
- The overall patient safety culture score was 51.26%, indicating a moderate level of safety culture.

## Abstract

Determining the level of patient safety culture is important in identifying areas for improvement in patient safety and care. The desire to improve patient care motivated this study.

The aim of this study is to determine the level of patient safety culture among the nursing staff and quality assurance managers at the three selected public hospitals in Gauteng province, South Africa.

The research was conducted at the three selected public hospitals in Gauteng province, South Africa, categorised as central, regional and district.

Descriptive quantitative method had two sub-phases. Phase 2(a): a questionnaire administered to professional nurses, enrolled nurses and enrolled nursing assistants. Phase 2(b): a questionnaire administered to operational managers of nursing, assistant managers of nursing and quality assurance managers. Simple random sampling yielded a response rate of 87.2% (436/500).

Three dimensions – supervisor, manager or clinical leader support for patient safety; handoffs and information exchange and teamwork – had the highest average positive response rates. Staffing and work pace and reporting patient safety incidents had moderate average positive response rates. Five dimensions had low average positive rates: organisational learning – continuous improvement, communication openness, hospital management support for patient safety, response to error and overall perceptions of patient safety. The overall patient safety culture scored 51.26%, indicating a moderate average positive response rate.

The level of patient safety culture needs improvement.

This study contributes to the comprehension of patient safety culture within public hospitals and provides healthcare leaders with improvement areas.