title: Professional environment and patient safety in emergency departments.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine nurses' and physicians' perceptions of professional environment and its association with patient safety in public emergency departments in Cyprus. A total of 224 professionals (174 nurses and 50 physicians) participated (rr = 81%). Data were collected using the "Revised Professional Practice Environment" (RPPE) instrument and the Safety Climate Domain of the "Emergency Medical Services Safety Attitudes Questionnaire" (EMS-SAQ). The mean overall score of RPPE was 2.79 (SD = 0.30), among physicians 2.84 (SD = 0.25) and nurses 2.73 (SD = 0.33) (P-value = 0.07). Statistically significant differences were observed between the two study groups regarding "staff relationships", "motivation" and "cultural sensitivity" (P-values < 0.05). No significant differences were observed as regards EMS-SAQ (3.25 vs. 3.16 respectively; P-value = 0.28). All 8 components of the RPPE exhibited significant association with patient safety. Linear and stepwise regression analyses showed that "leadership" explains 28% of the variance of safety. This relationship suggests improvements in professional environment with the ultimate goal of improving patient safety.
authors.affiliation: Cyprus University of Technology, Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, 15, Bragadinou str., 3041, Limassol, Cyprus. Electronic address: persoula@cytanet.com.cy.
authors.forename: Persefoni
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lambrou
authors.affiliation: Cyprus University of Technology, Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, 15, Bragadinou str., 3041, Limassol, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Evridiki
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Papastavrou
authors.affiliation: Cyprus University of Technology, Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, 15, Bragadinou str., 3041, Limassol, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Anastasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Merkouris
authors.affiliation: Cyprus University of Technology, Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, 15, Bragadinou str., 3041, Limassol, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Nicos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Middleton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000592:standards*; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards*; D010465:Perception; D010820:Physicians / Q000592:standards*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Emergency department; Nurse; Patient safety; Physician; Professional environment