Introduction:

The safety climate (SC) measurement in the hospitals, is essential for the development of a patient safety policy (PSP). Information about SC in the operating rooms is scarce.

Objective:

To measure the dimensions of SC in Colombian Operating Rooms according to characteristics of surgical staff.

Methods:

Cross-sectional study. The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety and an additional module for operating rooms were administered to healthcare workers in 6 high-complexity hospitals in the Metropolitan Area of Medellín (Colombia). The positive responses percentage for each dimension was measured. Differences by profession and type of contract were analyzed.

Results:

A total of442 participants were included. The workers in the operating rooms perceive a weak SC in terms of non-punitive response to error and workload (49.4% and 59.3% positive responses, respectively). Differences were found between physicians and nurses with lower scores in nursing for dimensions related to patient care. Anesthesiologists present low scores in events reporting. There are also differences by the type of work contract.

Conclusion:

Despite the PSP, the perception of a punitive culture to error, with a high workload. Recognizing differences between the groups within the surgical units helps to focus interventions strengthening the patient safety.

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