The effect of nurses' attitudes towards evidence-based nursing and information security on patient safety culture

The aim of this study is to determine the factors related to attitudes towards evidence-based nursing, information security and patient safety culture, and to reveal the effects of nurses' attitudes towards evidence-based nursing and information security on patient safety culture. In this context, the relationships between the sociodemographic characteristics of nurses, the scale and its sub-dimensions towards evidence-based nursing, the information security scale and its sub-dimensions, and the patient safety culture scale and its sub-dimensions were examined. The population of the study consists of 293 nurses working in a university hospital operating in Ankara. While the patient safety culture of nurses was measured by using the "Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture" hospital questionnaire which was developed by the Health Services Research and Quality Agency (AHRQ) in the USA in 2004; nurses' attitudes towards evidence-based nursing were determined by the Attitude Scale Towards Evidence-Based Nursing developed by Ruzafa-Martinez et al. (2011). In order to measure information security, an information security questionnaire developed by Gerçeker (2012) was used. Analysis of the variables was performed using validity, reliability, t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation, and multiple linear regression analyzes. The results showed that the evidence-based nursing attitude scale, the general average of the patient safety culture, and the information security scale scores were above the mean score. The dimensions of information security management, information security practice, information security culture and beliefs, and expectations towards EBN affect the average patient safety culture positively while the dimension of privacy in information security affects the average patient safety culture negatively. It was revealed that the variable that most affected the average patient safety culture was the information security culture. This result shows that the existence and development of information security culture have a positive impact on patient safety culture. The variables included in the model together explain 55% of the average patient safety culture. The results of the study are expected to contribute to the development of a patient safety culture for middle- and senior-level health managers and health workers.