effects of implemented initiatives on patient safety culture in fateme al-zahra hospital in najafabad

introduction: patient safety improvement requires ongoing culture. this cultural change is the most important challenge that managers are faced with in creation of a safe system. this study aims to show the results of initiatives to improvement in patient safety culture in fateme al-zahra hospital. method: in the quasi-experimental research, patient safety culture was measured using the persian questionnaire on adaptation of the hospital survey on patient safety culture in 12 dimensions. the research was conducted before (january 2010) and after (september 2012) the improvement initiatives. in this study, all units were determined and no sampling method was used. reliability of the questionnaire was tested by alpha chronbakh (0.83). data were analyzed using descriptive statistics indices and independent t-test by spss software (version 18). results: 350 questionnaires were distributed in each phaseand overall response rate was 58 and 56 percent, respectively. according to independent t-test, management expectations and actions, organizational learning, management support, feedback and communication about error, communication openness, overall perceptions of safety, non-punitive response to error, frequency of event reporting, and patient safety culture showed significant differences (p-value<0.05). teamwork within hospital units, teamwork across units, hospital handoffs and transitions, and staffing did not reveal any significant differences (p-value>0.05). the mean score of patient safety culture was 2.27 (from 5) and it was increased to 2.46 after initiatives that showed a significant difference (p-value<0.05). conclusion: although, improvement in patient safety culture needs teamwork and continuous attempts, the study showed that initiatives implemented in the case hospital had been effective in some dimensions. however, teamwork within hospital units, teamwork across units, hospital handoffs and transitions, and staffing dimensions were recognized for further intervention. hospital could improve the patient safety culture with planning and measures in these dimensions.