Abstract
Introduction
Patient safety culture provides cultural support and promotes patient safety throughout the organization. It refers to the values, beliefs, and norms shared by healthcare practitioners and staff that influence their actions and behaviors. It can be measured by determining values, beliefs, norms, and behaviors related to patient safety. It is an important aspect of healthcare quality and is a public health concern globally. However, little work has been done on patient safety culture in Cambodia. This study aims to assess the degree of patient safety culture among healthcare workers in a provincial hospital.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 122 selected healthcare providers at Preah Sihanouk Provincial Hospital in September 2024. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires via Google Forms. The tool was adapted from the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The responses were entered into statistical software (SPSS V-26) for analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate the percentage of positive responses for each of the 41 items in the 12 safety culture dimensions.
Results
The positive culture scores varied greatly across the 12 dimensions, ranging from 86.1%, the highest, to 27.9%, the lowest, with an overall average score of 55.3%. The items with a strong safety culture (score >75%) were teamwork within the hospital units and organizational learning-continuous improvement, whereas the items with a moderate level of safety culture (score between 50%-75%) included feedback and communication about error, teamwork across hospital units, hospital management support for patient safety, supervisor‒manager expectations and actions promoting safety, and hospital handoffs and transitions. The items with a weak safety culture with scores <50% were communication openness, frequency of event reporting about errors, overall perception of safety, staffing, and nonpunitive response to errors. These require well-designed patient safety interventions that are integrated with organizational policies to address all dimensions of patient safety culture, particularly those with the lowest scores.
Conclusion
The current patient safety culture perceived by healthcare workers at Preah Sihanouk Provincial Hospital must be improved. Broader cultural improvements are needed, with a particular focus on dimensions with the lowest positive culture scores, such as communication openness, event reporting, staffing, and nonpunitive response to error. These require well-designed patient safety interventions to be integrated with organizational policies to address all dimensions of patient safety culture.