title: A cross-sectional study to assess the patient safety culture in the Palestinian hospitals: a baseline assessment for quality improvement.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure and establish a baseline assessment of the patient safety culture in the Palestinian hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional descriptive study using the Arabic version of the Safety Attitude Questionnaire (Short Form 2006).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 339 nurses and physicians returned the questionnaire out of 370 achieving a response rate of 91.6%.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four public general hospitals in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nurses and physicians were randomly selected using a proportionate random sampling. Data analysis performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 20, andpvalue less than 0.05 was statistically significant.
  
  
  METHODS
  Current status of patient safety culture among healthcare providers and percentage of positive attitudes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Male to female ratio was 2.16:1, and mean age was 36.5 ± 9.4 years. The mean score of Arabic Safety Attitude Questionnaire across the six dimensions on 100-point scale ranged between 68.5 for Job Satisfaction and 48.5 for Working Condition. The percentage of respondents holding a positive attitude was 34.5% for Teamwork Climate, 28.4% for Safety Climate, 40.7% for Stress Recognition, 48.8% for Job Satisfaction, 11.3% for Working Conditions and 42.8% for Perception of Management. Healthcare workers holding positive attitudes had better collaboration with co-workers than those without positive attitudes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings are useful to formulate a policy on patient safety culture and targeted a specific safety culture dimension to improve the safety of patients and improve the clinical outcomes within healthcare organisations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, International campus, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 14155 Box 6446, Iran.
authors.forename: Aymen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elsous
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 14155 Box 6446, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akbari Sari
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, International campus, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 14155 Box 6446, Iran.
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rashidian
authors.affiliation: Dean Faculty of Nursing, Islamic University of Gaza, PO Box 108, Gaza Strip, Palestine.
authors.forename: Yousef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aljeesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, International campus, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 14155 Box 6446, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Radwan
authors.affiliation: Al Mustaqbal Research Center, Gaza Strip, Palestine.
authors.forename: Hatem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: AbuZaydeh
keywords: Assessment; Palestine; hospitals; safety attitude questionnaire; safety culture