AUTHOR=Zhang Chi , Wilson-Sheehan Sena , Ruch Brianna , Wagler Josiah , Abidali Ali , Lim Elisabeth S. , Chang Yu-Hui , Fowler Christopher , Douglas David D. , Mathur Amit K. 

TITLE=Safety attitudes culture remain stable in a transplant center: evidence from the coronavirus pandemic

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Transplantation

VOLUME=2

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/transplantation/articles/10.3389/frtra.2023.1208916

DOI=10.3389/frtra.2023.1208916

ISSN=2813-2440

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>We sought to understand how safety culture may evolve during disruption, by using the COVID-19 pandemic as an example, to identify vulnerabilities in the system that could impact patient outcomes.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A cross-sectional analysis of transplant personnel at a high-volume transplant center was conducted using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). Survey responses were scaled and evaluated pre- and post-COVID-19 (2019 and 2021).</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Two-hundred and thirty-eight responses were collected (134 pre-pandemic and 104 post-pandemic). Represented organ groups included: kidney (<italic>N</italic> = 89;38%), heart (<italic>N</italic> = 18;8%), liver (<italic>N</italic> = 54;23%), multiple (<italic>N</italic> = 66;28%), and other (<italic>N</italic> = 10;4%). Responders primarily included nurses (<italic>N</italic> = 75;34%), administration (<italic>N</italic> = 50;23%), and physicians (<italic>N</italic> = 24;11%). Workers had high safety, job satisfaction, stress recognition, and working conditions satisfaction (score &gt;75) both before and after the pandemic with overlapping responses across both timepoints. Stress recognition, safety, and working conditions improved post-COVID-19, but teamwork, job satisfaction, and perceptions of management were somewhat negatively impacted (all <italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.05).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>Despite the serious health care disruptions induced by the pandemic, high domain ratings were notable and largely maintained in a high-volume transplant center. The SAQ is a valuable tool for healthcare units and can be used in longitudinal assessments of transplant culture of safety as a component of quality assurance and performance improvement initiatives.</p></sec>