Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jun 2;19(11):6815.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19116815.

Development, Pilot Study, and Psychometric Analysis of the AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS®) Workplace Safety Supplemental Items for Hospitals

Katarzyna Zebrak  1 , Naomi Yount  1 , Joann Sorra  1 , Theresa Famolaro  1 , Laura Gray  1 , Deborah Carpenter  1 , Andrew Caporaso  1
Affiliations
Review

Development, Pilot Study, and Psychometric Analysis of the AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS®) Workplace Safety Supplemental Items for Hospitals

Katarzyna Zebrak et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Workplace safety is critical for advancing patient safety and eliminating harm to both the healthcare workforce and patients. The purpose of this study was to develop and test survey items that can be used in conjunction with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS®) Hospital Survey to assess how the organizational culture in hospitals supports workplace safety for providers and staff. After conducting a literature review and background interviews with workplace safety experts, we identified key areas of workplace safety culture (workplace hazards, moving/transferring/lifting patients, workplace aggression, supervisor/management support for workplace safety, workplace safety reporting, and work stress/burnout) and drafted survey items to assess these areas. Survey items were cognitively tested and pilot tested with the SOPS Hospital Survey 2.0 among providers and staff in 28 U.S. hospitals. We conducted psychometric analysis on data from 6684 respondents. Confirmatory factor analysis results (item factor loadings and model fit indices), internal consistency reliability, and site-level reliability were acceptable for the 16 survey items grouped into 6 composite measures. Most composite measures were significantly correlated with each other and with the overall rating on workplace safety, demonstrating conceptual convergence among survey measures. Hospitals and researchers can use the Workplace Safety Supplemental items to assess the dimensions of organizational culture that support provider and staff safety and to identify both strengths and areas for improvement.

Keywords: health care; healthcare; hospital; organizational culture; patient safety; psychometric analysis; safety culture; survey; workforce safety; workplace safety.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Caren Ginsberg from AHRQ provided input during survey development. Ginsberg and Sylvia Fisher from AHRQ provided comments on the manuscript. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Workplace safety supplemental item development process.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. National Steering Committee for Patient Safety . National Action Plan to Advance Patient Safety. Institute for Healthcare Improvement; Boston, MA, USA: 2020. [(accessed on 21 February 2022)]. Available online: www.ihi.org/SafetyActionPlan.
    1. Gerwig K., Hodgson M., Kingston M.B. A Healthcare Acquired Condition: Workforce Harm (8–11 December 2019) IHI Forum; Orlando, FL, USA: 2021.
    1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities, Table R8 Page. Survey of Occupational and Illness Data. Detailed Industry by Selected Events or Exposures (Rate) [(accessed on 21 February 2022)]; Available online: https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/case/cd_r8_2020.htm.
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Safe Patient Handling and Mobility (SPHM) Page. [(accessed on 3 March 2022)]; Available online: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/safepatient/default.html.
    1. Kayser S.A., Wiggermann N.E., Kumpar D. Factors associated with safe patient handling practice in acute care and its relationship with patient mobilization: A cross-sectional study. Int. J. Nurs. Stud. 2020;104:103508. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.103508. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types