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BMC Health Services Research
Published in: BMC Health Services Research 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

Psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the hospital survey on patient safety culture in a prehospital environment

Authors: Leif Inge K Sørskår, Eirik B Abrahamsen, Espen Olsen, Stephen J M Sollid, Håkon B Abrahamsen

Published in: BMC Health Services Research | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

To develop a culture of patient safety in a regime that strongly focuses on saving patients from emergencies may seem counter-intuitive and challenging. Little research exists on patient safety culture in the context of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and the use of survey tools represents an appropriate approach to improve patient safety. Research indicates that safety climate studies may predict safety behavior and safety-related outcomes. In this study we apply the Norwegian versions of Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) and assess the psychometric properties when tested on a national sample from the EMS.

Methods

This study adopted a web based survey design. The Norwegian HSOPSC has 13 dimensions, consisting of 46 items, in addition to two single-item outcome variables. SPSS (version 21) was used for descriptive data analysis, estimating internal consistency, and performing exploratory factor analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied to test the dimensional structure of the instruments using Amos (version 21).

Results

N = 1387 (27%) EMS employees participated in the survey. Overall, acceptable psychometric properties were observed, i.e. acceptable internal consistencies and construct validity. The patient safety climate dimensions with highest scores (number of positive answers) were “teamwork within units” and “manager expectations & actions promoting patient safety”. The dimension “hospital management support for patient safety” had the lowest score.

Conclusions

The results provided a validated instrument, the Prehospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (PreHSOPSC), for measuring patient safety climate in an EMS setting. In addition, the explanatory power was strong for several of the outcome dimensions; i.e., several of the safety climate dimensions have a strong predictive effect on outcome variables related to employees’ perceptions on patient safety and safety-related attitude.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the hospital survey on patient safety culture in a prehospital environment
Authors
Leif Inge K Sørskår
Eirik B Abrahamsen
Espen Olsen
Stephen J M Sollid
Håkon B Abrahamsen
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Health Services Research / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6963
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3576-x

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