Safety Climate Perceptions Linked to Health Provider Stress

MONDAY, June 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Safety climate perceptions are associated with care practitioner-reported stress and job satisfaction, according to a study published in the May-June issue of the Journal of Healthcare Management.

Gwen E. McGhan, Ph.D., from the University of Calgary in Canada, and colleagues examined workplace safety perceptions and the well-being of health care practitioners by position. Care teams were surveyed across three inpatient units. Data from 144 respondents were analyzed to examine the correlation between safety climate and self-reported injuries.

The researchers found that reported levels of workplace safety climate perceptions differed for nurses, health care aides, and allied health professionals. The poorest safety perceptions, lowest job satisfaction, and highest stress were reported by nurses, while allied health professionals reported the lowest stress and highest safety perceptions and job satisfaction. Nurses also had the highest number of self-reported injuries, while allied health professionals had the lowest number (68.3 and 8.3 percent of the total, respectively).

“Health care leaders can use the findings from this study to identify innovative approaches to increase positive perceptions of the workplace environment,” the authors write. “By focusing on position, role, and perceptions of safety climate, health care leaders can provide safety processes and training to improve how employees perceive the safety of their workplace.”

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