Safety culture is term used to determine the commitment, style and proficiency of an organization's health safety management. Medical errors increase morbidity, causes significant complications, increase hospital costs and prolongs hospital stays for the patient.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the perceived incidence rate and the patient safety attitudes of health care professionals at the Davao Medical School Foundation Hospital (DMSFH)
METHODOLOGY: The study involved the health care professionals of DMSFH. The safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ)was used and measured on a 5-point Likert scale for the following domains, Teamwork, Safety Climate, Job Satisfaction, Stress Recognition, Perceptions of Management, Working Conditions, Collaboration and Communication. The last part of the survey questionnaire determines the perceived incidence rate. It is composed of three items: accidents, near-misses and errors and were rated on a 6-point Likert scale.
RESULTS: Among the 145 respondents, 88.96% were nurses, 1.38% doctors and 9.66% pharmacists. The overall patient safety climate at the DMSFH was good with a mean rate of 3.5 ± 0.42. Perception of management has the lowest perceived rates with a mean of only 3.06 ±  0.21. In terms of mean perceived incident rates, errors had the highest mean rates of 3.27 ± 1.09. Overall, perceived incidence rates are negatively, albeit weakly, correlated with the DMSFH safety climate.
CONCLUSION: The perceived incidence rates are significantly affected by the patient safety measures that are practiced by the health care professionals.