Patient Safety Culture in the Surgical Center: Perspective of Nursing Professionals

Objective: To determine the patient safety culture among nursing professionals of surgical center in a high-complexity hospital in North-eastern Brazil. Materials and Method: Cross-sectional study performed with 56 professionals from the nursing staff, in the period from January to June 2019. The instrument Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture was applied. In the data analysis and verification of the results, the Cronbach alpha test was used. Results and Discussion: The Dimensions: “ Organizational Learning ” (91.67%, α=0.72); “ Feedback and communication about error ” (80.36%, α=0.63) and “ Supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting patient safety ” (77.68%, α=0.60) constituted strong points. However, the dimensions “ Frequency of events reported ” (32.59%, α=0.57) and “ Nonpunitive response to error ” 25.60%, α=0.41) were more fragile. The study covers, therefore, the extended and multidimensional perspective of safety culture when considering such specificities and cross-sectional characteristics influencing the organization’s commitment to health with patient safety. Conclusion: Despite the strong points evidenced, some dimensions presented weaknesses, which requires management/professionals collaboration to improve patient safety culture in this sector. The limitation was the small sample of the nursing staff.