Patient Safety Culture Associated With Patient Safety Competencies Among Registered Nurses

Purpose: To investigate the relationships between registered nurses' (RNs') perceptions of the culture of patient safety in their workplace and their patient safety competency-attitudes, skills, and knowledge.

Design: A cross-sectional study design was used. Data were collected by using a self-reported survey from 343 RNs working in a university hospital in Seoul, South Korea.

Methods: Patient safety culture was measured using the Korean version of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (Hospital SOPSTM). Patient safety competency was measured using the Patient Safety Competency Self-Evaluation tool. Multiple regression analysis was performed using Stata version 14 to examine the relationships between patient safety culture and RNs' patient safety competency, while adjusting for the RNs nested in their units.

Findings: Of the 10 specific aspects of patient safety culture, only teamwork within units was significantly related to overall safety competency. In relation to each of the three patient safety competencies, teamwork within and across units and supervisor or manager expectations were significantly related to attitudes, while teamwork within units and learning were significantly related to skills. Only organizational learning was significantly related to knowledge.

Conclusions: Although teamwork, leadership, and continuous learning in the nursing unit were major factors influencing RNs' safety competency, the relationships of these factors to patient safety attitudes, skills, and knowledge among RNs were varied.

Clinical Relevance: Creating a unit-specific patient safety culture that is tailored to the competencies of the unit's RNs in patient safety practice would be essential to enhance and maintain high levels of patient safety attitudes, skills, and knowledge among the unit's RNs, which would ultimately affect patient safety.