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What is Patient Safety Culture? A Review of the Literature
Author(s) -
Sammer Christine E.,
Lykens Kristine,
Singh Karan P.,
Mains Douglas A.,
Lackan Nuha A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of nursing scholarship
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.009
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1547-5069
pISSN - 1527-6546
DOI - 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2009.01330.x
Subject(s) - safety culture , operationalization , patient safety , organizational culture , typology , teamwork , organizational safety , accountability , nursing , medicine , public relations , sociology , psychology , management , health care , political science , organizational studies , epistemology , anthropology , organizational engineering , law , economics , philosophy
Purpose: To organize the properties of safety culture addressed by many studies and to develop a conceptual culture of safety model. Design and Methods: A comprehensive review of the culture of safety literature within the U.S. hospital setting. The review was a qualitative meta‐analysis from which we generated a conceptual culture of safety framework and developed a typology of the safety culture literature. Findings: Seven subcultures of patient safety culture were identified: (a) leadership, (b) teamwork, (c) evidence‐based, (d) communication, (e) learning, (f) just, and (g) patient‐centered. Conclusions: Safety culture is a complex phenomenon that is not clearly understood by hospital leaders, thus making it difficult to operationalize. We found senior leadership accountability key to an organization‐wide culture of safety. Clinical Relevance: Hospital leaders are increasingly pressured by federal, state, regulatory, and consumer groups to demonstrate an organizational safety culture that assures patients are safe from medical error. This article defines a safety culture framework that may support hospital leadership answer the question “what is a patient safety culture?”