title: A questionnaire survey exploring healthcare professionals' attitudes towards teamwork and safety in acute care areas in South Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although human factors are important in terms of patient safety, there have been very few reports on the attitudes of healthcare professionals working in acute care settings in South Korea. In the present study, we investigated the attitudes of such professionals, their cultures and their management systems.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire survey with 65 items covering nine themes affecting patient safety. Nine themes were compared via a three-or-more-way analysis of variance, with interaction, followed by multiple comparisons among several groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  Intensive care units, emergency departments and surgical units of nine urban hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  592 nurses and 160 physicians.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mean scores using a five-point scale and combined response scores for each of the nine themes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean score for information-sharing was the highest (3.78±0.49) and that for confidence/assertion was the lowest (2.97±0.34). The mean scores for teamwork, error management, work value, organisational climate, leadership, stress and fatigue level, and error/procedural compliance were intermediate. Physicians showed lower scores in leadership and higher scores in information-sharing than nurses. Respondents with 24 months or less of a clinical career showed higher scores in leadership, stress and fatigue, and error scores and lower scores in work value than more experienced respondents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that medical personnel in Korea are relatively reluctant to disclose error or assert their different opinions with others. Many did not adequately recognise the negative effects of fatigue and stress, attributed errors to personal incompetence, and error-management systems were inadequate. Discrepancies in leadership and information-sharing were evident between professional groups, and leadership, stress, fatigue level, work value and error scores varied with the length of work experience. These can be used as baseline data to establish training programmes for patient safety in Korea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Eun
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Chan Woong
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Je Hyeok
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5211-3838
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Hoon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Ho
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyuk Joong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Yeong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon Hee
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Su Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul Metropolitan Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003422:Critical Care; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D010348:Patient Care Team; D061214:Patient Safety; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: EDUCATION & TRAINING (see Medical Education & Training); INTENSIVE & CRITICAL CARE