Evaluation of patient safety culture as perceived by nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract Objectives: A good patient safety culture (PSC) is linked to a reduced risk of patient problems and minimal undesirable occurrences. This study investigated the PSC levels from nurses’ perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was applied. The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) questionnaire was administered to 315 nurses working at 2 major hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a t-test, and a one-way ANOVA test. The statistical significance of the correlation was determined at the 0.05 level. Results: PSC was rated as medium overall according to the nurses, with a weighted mean of 2.88–0.76 and a relative weight of 57.57%. In addition, all PSC composites were rated from medium to high, except organizational learning, which was rated low. The correlation between sociodemographic variables as well as PSC levels was investigated using the t-test and one-way ANOVA test. The association is statistically significant when P ≤ 0.05. The findings revealed a statistically significant correlation between nurse nationality (t = −4.399, P = 0.000), age (F = 7.917, P = 0.000), experience in years (F = 3.760, P = 0.024), and hospital (t = −0.401, P = 0.689). Conclusions: The nurses in this study had a medium overall PSC level, and all PSC composites ranged from a medium to a high level, except organizational learning, which had a low level. In addition, the findings showed that there is a significant relationship between PSC levels, nurses’ nationalities, experience in years, and the hospital itself.