title: Iranian nurses' perception of patient safety culture.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In recent decades, patient safety has become a high priority health system issue, due to the high potential of occurring adverse events in health facilities.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was aimed to survey patient safety culture in 2 Iranian educational hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a descriptive, cross-sectional survey, a hospital survey on patient safety culture, was used in two teaching hospitals in Yazd, Iran during 2012. Study population was comprised of the same hospitals' nurses. Stratified-random sampling method was used and distributed among a total of 340 randomly-selected nurses from different units. From all distributed questionnaires, 302 ones were answered completely and afterwards analyzed using SPSS 17. Dimensional- and item-level positive scores were used for results reporting. Additionally descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), independent sample t-test and ANOVA were sued for data analyzing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Research findings demonstrated that both hospitals had low to average scores in all dimensions of patient safety culture. Non-punitive response to error, staffing and frequency of events reported had the lowest positive scores of patient safety dimensions with scores 15.26, 19.26, 16.65, 30 and 32.87, 31.10 respectively in Shahid Sadoughi and Shahid Rahnemoon Hospitals. Also only 29.20 and 28.80 percent of nurses in Shahid Sadoughi and Shahid Rahnemoon Hospitals, respectively, evaluated the patient safety grade of their hospital as "excellent" and "very good". Indeed, the studied hospitals had a statistical difference in 3 dimensions of patient safety culture (frequency of events reported, organizational learning and staffing). (P ≤ 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study results were indicating of the challenge of weak patient safety culture, in educational hospitals. Therefore, the issue should be integrated to all policy makers and managerial initiatives in our health system, as a top priority.
authors.affiliation: Department of Healthcare Management, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, IR Iran ; Hospital Management Research Center, Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Yazd, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Amin
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bahrami
authors.affiliation: Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mahjabin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chalak
authors.affiliation: Hospital Management Research Center, Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Yazd, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Razieh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Montazeralfaraj
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Arefeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dehghani Tafti
keywords: Hospital; Patients, Patient Safety, Nurses