Nurses' attitudes towards patient safety and their relationship to adverse patient events in Oman

Background: Adverse events (AEs) are major causes of mortality. Identification of nurses' attitudes towards patient safety and their impact on AEs is critical in enhancing safe practices.

Aim: To assess the relationship between attitudes towards patient safety and AEs as perceived by nurses working in Sultanate of Oman.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted. Data to evaluate nurses' attitudes towards patient safety was collected using the Safety Attitude Questionnaire. The relationship between attitudes towards patient safety and the perceived incidence of adverse patient events was examined using logistic regression analysis.

Results: A total of 184 questionnaires were administered from February to April 2022, with a response rate of 96.8%. The results revealed that nurses had a negative attitude towards patient safety. The highest reported adverse event was patient and family complaints. Findings showed a significant relationship between working conditions and patient and family verbal abuse (OR = 0.505, CI (0.283-0.901), p = 0.021). Job satisfaction was a significant predictor of patient fall (OR = 0.57, CI (0.353-0.932), p = 0.025) and medication error (OR = 0.58, CI (0.354-0.949), p = 0.030).

Conclusion: Nurses' attitudes towards patient safety are a significant predictor contributing to the occurrence of AEs. This finding provides key insights about patient safety status that key stakeholders could use to improve safety culture, including raising patient safety awareness.