International Journal of Nursing

Validation of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire - Short Form 2006 to Portugal
Dora Maria Ricardo Fonseca Saraiva, Anabela Antunes de Almeida

Abstract
The growing perception of an insufficiency in patient safety and the inevitable associated costs, as well as increasingly limited resources, have required from health policies and institutions a rewriting of effective, competitive and innovative strategies to promote safety in health care.1 In fact, this issue has become a global issue within the context of health management, research and clinical practice.2-5 It is considered a challenge for healthcare organizations, as well as for professionals and policy-makers whose it as a structural priority in the clinical governance system,2,3,5,6 and a matter of concern for patients and their families, who envision safety and trust in healthcare.7-9 The safety culture in medical institutions has a pivotal impact on the safety of healthcare10-15 and has been considered a decisive model within quality of care, as well as an essential structural indicator that promotes and facilitates the initiatives that minimize risks and prevent adverse events within this scope.16 The safety environment, as a psychological phenomenon of the safety culture, involves the perceptions of the state of safety at a particular moment in time and enables assessment of the professionals’ perception of safety in the organization. In the Health sector, assessment of the safety environment through questionnaires has stood as a practical tool that enables organizations to act proactively, plan internal quality improvements, assess the impact and effectiveness of the implemented actions and benchmark both internally and externally.17-18 Sexton et al.’s Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) is currently one of the most widely used questionnaires19 in many clinical areas and health services, within different contexts and various international environments. It has been thoroughly tested and is, therefore, considered psychometrically valid and reliable.17,20-29 Considering the potential of this resource, which is described in several international studies, and acknowledging the need for and relevance of such a safety environment assessment tool in the Portuguese population, the present study was conceived. Ourgoal is to proceed to the translation, cultural adaptation and validation of the SAQ -Short Form 2006 in Portugal.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/ijn.v2n1a11