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Assessing safety culture in NICU : psychometric properties of the I talian version of S afety A ttitude Q uestionnaire and result implications
Author(s) -
Zenere Alessandra,
Zanolin M. Elisabetta,
Negri Roberta,
Moretti Francesca,
Grassi Mario,
Tardivo Stefano
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/jep.12472
Subject(s) - safety culture , context (archaeology) , psychological intervention , intensive care , organizational culture , structural equation modeling , patient safety , confirmatory factor analysis , teamwork , affect (linguistics) , psychology , medicine , health care , nursing , statistics , management , mathematics , intensive care medicine , economics , economic growth , paleontology , communication , biology
Rationale, aims and objective Neonatal intensive care units ( NICUs ) are a high‐risk setting. The S afety A ttitude Q uestionnaire ( SAQ ) is a widely used tool to measure safety culture. The aims of the study are to verify the psychometric properties of the I talian version of SAQ , to evaluate safety culture in the NICUs and to identify improvement interventions. Method A cross‐sectional study was conducted in 6 level III NICUs . The SAQ was translated into Italian and adapted to the context, a confirmatory factor analysis ( CFA ) was performed to validate the questionnaire.Results 193 questionnaires were collected. The mean response rate was 59.7% (range 44.5%–95.7%). The answers were analysed according to six factors: f1 – teamwork climate , f2 – safety climate , f3 – job satisfaction , f4 – stress recognition , f5 – perception of management , f6 – working conditions . The CFA indexes were adequate ( M c D onald's omega indexes varied from 0.74 to 0.94, the SRMR index was equal to 0.79 and the RMSEA index was 0.070, 95% CI = 0.063–0.078). The mean composite score was 57.6 ( SD 17.9), ranging between 42.3 and 69.7 on a standardized 100‐point scale. We highlighted significant differences among units and professions ( P < 0.05). Conclusions The I talian version of the SAQ proved to be an effective tool to evaluate and compare the safety culture in the NICUs . The obtained scores significantly varied both within and among the NICUs . The organizational and structural characteristics of the involved hospitals probably affect the safety culture perception by the staff.