Safety Attitudes among Doctors and Nurses in an Emergency Department of an Australian Hospital

Introduction: Safety attitudes have been investigated in a number of countries across different hospital departments, however there are few studies including Emergency Departments. Aim: To investigate doctors’ and nurses’ attitudes towards patient safety in Emergency Department in an Australian hospital. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used. The participants included 51 doctors and nurses who completed a Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) and reported the number of errors they had witnessed over the last year. Multivariate and univariate analysis was used to compare mean subscale scores of safety attitudes between doctors vs. nurses. Results: The findings showed doctors had comparatively positive safety attitudes compared to nurses, who rated teamwork climate, safety climate, unit management and work conditions particularly low. Both doctors and nurses had low opinions of hospital management and working conditions. Doctors and nurses with longer tenures and those who reported a higher number of medical errors had good safety attitudes. Conclusion: This study provides an insight into the safety attitudes of doctors and nurses employed in an Emergency Department in an Australian hospital. Further investigation into the relationship between safety attitudes, error rates and reporting should be performed in future studies.