The impact of safety culture and safety climate on achieving patient safety in healthcare organizations

ABSTRACT

Patient safety is a strategic pursuit for Healthcare Organizations whose mission is to provide high-quality services. The Institute of Medicine's report "To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System" in 2000 highlighted the clinical "errors" that can occur in the delivery of care as a critical factor in reducing the level of patient safety and quality of healthcare services. Since then, many international Health Organizations have adopted policies/actions to build a safe working environment and related hospital conditions. Critical is the emerging patient safety culture, defined by healthcare professionals' shared values, beliefs, behaviors, and sense of safety. Organizations with a positive safety culture are distinguished for adopting safe/good clinical practices that ensure and promote service quality. A patient safety culture assessment is a strong recommendation for Healthcare Organization Management and is achieved using specific, multi-level measurement tools/questionnaires. Additionally, the impact of the safety climate is crucial, reflecting the procedures, priorities, and how the organization operates, which is a key criterion for assessing its safety level. Understanding and effective administrative management of the mechanism and influencing factors in shaping the patient safety culture and climate can create robust, quality, and efficient health systems, with accompanying economic benefits.

Keywords: Patient safety, safety culture, safety climate, healthcare organizations