An assessment of healthcare professionals' perceptions of patient safety culture: A hospital case study

Contemporary health systems are undergoing rapid transformation in terms of technology, information, and human resources. This growing complexity makes the prevention of errors and the minimization of harm a critical priority; accordingly, patient safety emerges as a vital imperative for all healthcare organizations. This study aimed to assess healthcare workers' perceptions of patient safety culture in a private hospital in Istanbul and to identify strengths and areas requiring improvement. For statistical analyses, the Mann–Whitney U test was used for comparisons between two independent groups, the Kruskal–Wallis test for comparisons among more than two independent groups, and Spearman's rank correlation for association analyses (α = 0.05). Data were collected by survey from 152 healthcare workers using a sociodemographic information form and the Patient Safety Culture Scale (HSOPSC). Of the participants, 67.1% were women and 32.9% men; the mean age was 37.28 ± 10.229 years (range 21–71). In the sample, 76.3% reported direct contact with patients, and 32.2% had filed at least one incident report in the previous 12 months. The overall patient safety culture score was positively correlated with all subdimensions, with the strongest associations observed for organizational communication and teamwork, and the weakest for incident reporting. Age showed positive associations with general safety, management support, and the overall score. Women had higher incident-reporting scores than men, and nurses scored higher on incident reporting than other professional groups. Staff without direct patient contact obtained higher scores on error assessment. Based on employees' perceptions, this study makes visible both the strengths and the development needs of the institution, underscoring the centrality of reporting, communication, and teamwork to patient safety culture. It recommends routine measurement and evaluation, learning-oriented leadership, and system-focused preventive improvements as organizational priorities.