An Employee Questionnaire for Assessing Patient Safety in Outpatient Surgery

This paper provides information on the reliability and validity of an employee questionnaire developed in a study of patient safety in outpatient surgery. The Systems Engineering Intervention in Outpatient Surgery (SEIPS), a collaborative community perspective project currently underway at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, examines the impact of a systems engineering intervention on both employees and patients. In this paper, we describe the SEIPS employee questionnaire, which surveys various elements of the work system (e.g., communication, workplace, supplies, and patient safety climate), the care process, and employee outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction, stress, perceived quality and safety of care provided). Data from a sample of 289 staff members in 5 outpatient surgery centers (53 percent response rate) are used to examine reliability, construct validity, convergent validity, and predictive validity. The results provided evidence for the reliability and validity of the SEIPS study’s employee questionnaire. Introduction The Systems Engineering Intervention in Outpatient Surgery (SEIPS), a collaborative community perspective project currently underway at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is applying the SEIPS work system model to patient safety in outpatient surgery centers. The objective of the project is to examine the impact of a system intervention on the work system, employee and organizational outcomes, and quality and safety of patient care. The five major outpatient surgery centers in Madison are cooperatively participating in the study. All five sites are members of the Madison Patient Safety Collaborative, a group of local providers committed to improving patient safety in the community who have agreed to not use patient safety to their competitive advantage. In the course of this research study, all employees working in the five outpatient surgery centers were asked to voluntarily respond to an employee survey, designed to assess patient safety in outpatient surgery from the viewpoint of the employees. In this paper, we describe the steps used to develop the content, reliability, and validity of the survey. There is a conceptual framework underlying the structure of the employee questionnaire. In the SEIPS model of work system and patient safety, we Report Documentation Page Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. 1. REPORT DATE 2005 2. REPORT TYPE N/A 3. DATES COVERED 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE An Employee Questionnaire for Assessing Patient Safety in Outpatient Surgery 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER