The effectiveness of a safe nurses program on standard precautions compliance behaviours & safety culture

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a safety& health program developed for nurses, on standard precautions compliance behaviours, nurse health and safety culture. Method: The research was carried out in three stages as methodological, qualitative and quantitative. The methodological stage was carried out with 411 nurse samples in three different hospitals and the psychometric and psycholingucitic properties of the 'Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale' were examined. The qualitative stage was conducted by means of in-depth interviews in 19 nurses sampling using descriptive-qualitative, purposeful sampling method. Interviews were conducted using 'semi-structured interview form' and the data were evaluated with "content analysis. In the quantitative stage, the study employed with a single group quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test research design with repeated measures. All nurses working in five units of the hospital (n: 71) were sampled. Data were collected with the 'Compliance for Standard Precautions' and 'Culture of Safety and Health of Staff' scales at baseline, third and sixth months. Results: Adaptation results showed that the Turkish version of the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale (CSPS-T) is adequate for linguistic and content validation. The content validity index and comprehensibility of the scale were similarly satisfactory. The reliability of the CSPS-T was examined by Cronbach's alpha, corrected item-total correlations and intraclass correlation coefficient, and good results were obtained. The Rasch model showed that all items were compatible with the model. Whilst item four was the most difficult, item 10 was the easiest. In qualitative stage; two main themes were identified as "physical environment regulations" and "administrative arrangements" were determined as the nurses' health and safety issues on their work environment. In the quantitative stage; compliance with standard precautions, culture of safety and health of staff measures of the intervention group total score medians significantly differ from the initial measurements at the sixth month. There was a significant difference between the median scores of the "infection prevention" sub-dimension of the nurses' culture of safety and health of staff scale at the sixth month compared to the baseline-third month measurements, but no significant difference was found in the other sub-dimensions. Conclusion: As a result, programs using multiple teaching methods can improve the compliance of nurses with standard measures and improving the culture of employee health and safety. However, in order to ensure the full health and safety culture of employees in all dimensions, it is necessary to establish cooperative programs with full participation of lower-middle-upper management and comprehensive, continuous-regular follow-up and measurements by the employee health and safety unit. Key Words: employee health, safe working environment, nurse, standard precautions, safety culture