<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec><h3>Introduction</h3><p>An effective leadership is critical to the development of a safety culture within an organization. With this study, the authors wanted to assess the self-perceived level of safety culture among the employees with a leadership function in the Ljubljana Community Health Centre.</p></sec><sec><h3>Methods</h3><p>This was a cross-sectional study in the largest community health centre in Slovenia. We sent an invitation to all employees with a leadership role (N=211). The Slovenian version of the SAQ – Short Form as a measurement of a safety culture was used. The data on demographic characteristics (gender, age, role, work experience, working hours, and location of work) were also collected. An electronic survey was used.</p></sec><sec><h3>Results</h3><p>The final sample consisted of 154 (69.7%) participants, out of which 136 (88.3%) were women. The mean age and standard deviation of the sample was 46.2±10.5 years. The average scores for the safety culture domains on a scale from 1 to 5 were 4.1±0.6 for Teamwork Climate, Safety Climate, and Working Conditions and Satisfaction, 3.7±0.5 for Perception of Management, 3.6±0.4 for Communication, and 3.5±0.6 for Stress Recognition.</p></sec><sec><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>The safety culture among leaders in primary healthcare organizations in Slovenia is perceived as positive. There is also a strong organizational culture. Certain improvements are needed, especially in the field of communication and stress recognition with regards to safety culture.</p></sec></abstract>

IntroductionAn effective leadership is critical to the development of a safety culture within an organization. With this study, the authors wanted to assess the self-perceived level of safety culture among the employees with a leadership function in the Ljubljana Community Health Centre.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study in the largest community health centre in Slovenia. We sent an invitation to all employees with a leadership role (N=211). The Slovenian version of the SAQ – Short Form as a measurement of a safety culture was used. The data on demographic characteristics (gender, age, role, work experience, working hours, and location of work) were also collected. An electronic survey was used.ResultsThe final sample consisted of 154 (69.7%) participants, out of which 136 (88.3%) were women. The mean age and standard deviation of the sample was 46.2±10.5 years. The average scores for the safety culture domains on a scale from 1 to 5 were 4.1±0.6 for Teamwork Climate, Safety Climate, and Working Conditions and Satisfaction, 3.7±0.5 for Perception of Management, 3.6±0.4 for Communication, and 3.5±0.6 for Stress Recognition.ConclusionThe safety culture among leaders in primary healthcare organizations in Slovenia is perceived as positive. There is also a strong organizational culture. Certain improvements are needed, especially in the field of communication and stress recognition with regards to safety culture.

Safety Culture at Primary Healthcare Level: A Cross-Sectional Study among Employees with a Leadership Role

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine

Slovenian Journal of Public Health

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Kultura Varnosti na Osnovni Ravni Zdravstvenega Varstva: Presečna Raziskava med Zaposlenimi z Vodstveno Funkcijo

IntroductionAn effective leadership is critical to the development of a safety culture within an organization. With this study, the authors wanted to assess...

Characteristic	Number (%)
Perception of management	3.7 (0.5)
Stress recognition	3.5 (0.9)
Teamwork climate	4.1 (0.6)
Communication	3.6 (0.4)
Safety climate	4.1 (0.6)
Working conditions and satisfaction	4.1 (0.6)

Characteristic	Number (%)
Profile
Physician, dentist	54 (35.1)
Registered nurse	36 (23.4)
Manager	28 (18.2)
Nurse assistant	18 (11.7)
Other clinical staff	16 (10.4)
Administrative staff	2 (1.3)
Community Health Centre unit
Unit Sentvid	41 (26.6)
Unit Center	24 (15.6)
Unit Vic Rudnik	23 (14.9)
Unit Moste Polje	19 (12.3)
Unit Bezigrad	19 (12.3)
Unit Siska	16 (10.4)
Administrative Unit	8 (5.2)
Unit Emergency services	4 (2.6)

Safety Culture at Primary Healthcare Level: A Cross-Sectional Study among Employees with a Leadership Role

Article Category: Original scientific article

Published Online: Dec 13, 2019

Page range: 42 - 46

Received: Sep 10, 2019

Accepted: Nov 11, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjph-2020-0006

Keywords
safety culture, primary healthcare, organizational culture

© 2020 Zalika Klemenc-Ketiš et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Safety culture scores.

Profiles of participants and Community Health Centre units they work in.

Safety Culture at Primary Healthcare Level: A Cross-Sectional Study among Employees with a Leadership Role

Article Category: Original scientific article

Published Online: Dec 13, 2019

Page range: 42 - 46

Received: Sep 10, 2019

Accepted: Nov 11, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjph-2020-0006

Keywordssafety culture, primary healthcare, organizational culture

© 2020 Zalika Klemenc-Ketiš et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Safety culture scores.

Profiles of participants and Community Health Centre units they work in.

Keywords
safety culture, primary healthcare, organizational culture