Healthcare Management · 2007
The Safety Organizing Scale: Development and Validation of a Behavioral Measure of Safety Culture in Hospital Nursing Units
Timothy J. Vogus, Kathleen M. Sutcliffe
Medical Care
The research approach
Uses nurse questionnaires across hospital units to assess a safety organizing measure's structure and validity, then examines associations with subsequently reported adverse events.
What the research finds
The measure showed reliability and conceptual distinctiveness; higher scores were associated with fewer subsequently reported medication errors and patient falls.
Why it matters for management
Offers healthcare managers a way to examine everyday organizational behaviors and discuss service quality improvement beyond policies or formal safety statements.
Scope & limitations
Self-reported practices and reported adverse events may reflect reporting behavior; observed associations do not establish that raising a survey score causes safer care.
