title: Patient safety perceptions among vascular interventional technologists.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe perceptions of patient safety culture (PSC) among US vascular interventional technologists (VIR).
  
  
  METHODS
  A letter to complete The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture online was distributed in the US to all full-time American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT)-registered technologists with a primary discipline of cardiac-interventional or vascular interventional (n=3,184). Mean scores on each PSC dimension and overall outcome measures were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 13.7% (n=437) for the entire universe of ARRT-registered VIR technologists working full-time. Overall, respondents ranked the following dimensions as supporting patient safety within their respective institution: supervisor/manager promotion of patient safety, staffing, hospital handoffs/transitions, and teamwork within units. Neutral perceptions focused on teamwork across hospital units, hospital management's support for patient safety, and nonpunitive response to errors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For this population, teamwork across hospital units and administrative support for a culture of safety should be addressed. With almost 20' of respondents rating their institutions with an overall safety grade of C or below, there is clearly a need for further investigation of patient safety issues within VIR departments to confirm these findings and to expand the scope of inquiry to other radiologic science professionals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, 701 West Grace Street, Box 843057, Richmond, VA 23284-3057, USA. jlegg@vcu.edu
authors.forename: Jeffrey S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Legg
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aaron
authors.forename: Melanie C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Dempsey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061214:Patient Safety; D010465:Perception; D015641:Radiography, Interventional / Q000592:standards*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013679:Technology, Radiologic; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce