Safety climate perceived by pre-hospital emergency care personnel-an international cross-sectional study

Justyna Kosydar-Bochenek; Dorota Religa; Małgorzata Knap; Marcin Czop; Bartosz Knap; Wioletta Mędrzycka-Dąbrowska; Sabina Krupa

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1192315

Safety climate perceived by pre-hospital emergency care personnel-an international cross-sectional study

Front Public Health. 2023 Jul 17:11:1192315. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1192315. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Justyna Kosydar-Bochenek¹, Dorota Religa², Małgorzata Knap³, Marcin Czop⁴, Bartosz Knap^{5

6}, Wioletta Mędrzycka-Dąbrowska⁷, Sabina Krupa¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Health Sciences, College of Medical Sciences of the University of Rzeszow, Rzeszów, Poland.
² Division for Clinical Geriatrics, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
³ Institute of Health Sciences, Collegium Medicum of the Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce, Kielce, Poland.
⁴ Department of Clinical Genetics, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
⁵ Doctoral School, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
⁶ Chair and Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
⁷ Department of Anesthesiology Nursing and Intensive Care, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.

Abstract

Introduction: Improving patient safety is one of the most critical components of modern healthcare. Emergency medical services (EMS) are, by nature, a challenging environment for ensuring patient safety. It is fast-paced, physically dangerous, and highly stressful, requiring rapid decision-making and action. This can create risks not only for patients but also for employees. We assessed variations in perceptions of safety culture in prehospital emergency care among an international sample of paramedics and nurses.

Methods: The Emergency Medical Services Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (EMS-SAQ) was used for the study. The instrument measures six domains of safety culture in the workplace: teamwork climate, job satisfaction, safety climate, working conditions, stress recognition, and perceptions of management. A total of 1,128 EMS from 9 countries participated in this study.

Results: Safety Climate was 81.32/100 (SD 6.90), Teamwork Climate 84.14/100 (SD 8.74), Perceptions of Management 76.30/100 (SD 10.54), Stress Recognition 89.86/100 (SD 5.70), Working Conditions 81.07/100 (SD 9.75), and Job Satisfaction 70.71/100 (SD 7.21). There was significant variation in safety culture scores across countries for teamwork climate (TWC), working conditions (WC), and job satisfaction (JS). Among the individual variables (age, gender, level of education, and work experience), variations in safety culture scores were unaffected by age, gender, or work experience. Organizational characteristics: employment status and position type were linked to significant variations in safety culture domain scores.

Conclusion: Participants' perceptions of the patient safety climate were not particularly satisfactory, confirming that there is still a need to develop a culture of patient safety in prehospital emergency care.

Keywords: emergency medical services; nurse; paramedic; pre-hospital emergency care; safety attitudes questionnaire; safety climate; safety culture.

MeSH terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Emergency Medical Services*
Hospitals
Humans
Organizational Culture*
Safety Management