A key strategy to support your learning about patient safety is to reflect on basic concepts and how you can apply these concepts in your daily practice. This article is the third in a series of articles highlighting a key patient safety topic.
The safety culture of an organization is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies and patterns of behaviour. A simplified way of describing culture is “the way we do business here”. Culture has a vital impact on the way in which organizations function. It is influenced by what is expected of each other, the way that teams behave, and beliefs that are shared. There are many components of culture, all of which are interconnected.
The British Columbia Patient Safety and Quality Council developed an excellent resource to address culture change. The following are examples of components of culture, with excerpts from “Culture Change Toolbox – General Healthcare”[1].
Teamwork and Communications – the quality of teamwork, collaboration, communication, and conflict resolution. Patterns of teamwork are created over time. Start making improvements with something tangible and focused.
Safety Climate – the perceived level of commitment to and focus on patient safety within a work area. This will affect both client safety and caregiver safety. Safety climate includes feeling comfortable reporting safety hazards and learning from patient safety incidents.
Just Culture – emphasizes learning rather than blame when patient harm occurs. An atmosphere of trust is built so that individuals can openly discuss patient incidents, process improvements, and system corrections. Learning occurs to change systems to reduce the chance of the same event occurring again.
Patients as Partners – includes open and honest communication, respect, and care based on the whole person. Patient values and preferences are respected.
Leadership – that supports improving safety culture reflects a dedication to patient safety, support for frontline providers, addressing individuals who cause problems for others, and open and transparent sharing of information.
Some questions to ask by patients, families and healthcare providers to reflect on the safety culture in an organization are:
- Is it easy to ask questions if there is something you don’t understand?
- Do you feel like your input is valued?
- How do people respond to patient safety incidents?
- How are patient values respected in the workplace?
- How are patient’s questions handled? Do they feel comfortable asking questions in the workplace? Is it “Safe to Ask”?
- How do teams management disagreement? Do teams work together to solve problems?
For more information on patient safety, go to the Manitoba Institute for Patient Safety website at www.mips.ca or safetoask.ca.
[1] British Columbia
Patient Safety and Quality Council (2013). Culture Change Toolbox. General Healthcare.
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