Hospital management support for patient safety

INTRODUCTION: Hospital management support can play an important role in addressing the issue of patient safety. There is increasing concern about patient safety, as it is often linked to a lack of effective managers who can use their influence to change health professionals’ behavior, leading to a decrease in work pressure and medical errors and enhancing patient safety. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at three private hospitals. The sample (n = 315) consisted of health professionals from different private hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A 40-item questionnaire addressed patient safety, teamwork, collaboration, hospital management support, supervisor support, work pressure, and communication. The quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 and the standard multiple regression analysis was the method used to test hypotheses in this study. RESULTS: The results of this investigation indicate that a significant amount of variance in perceived patient safety (R2 = 0.41) is accounted for by the predictor variables. The most significant predictor of patient safety is teamwork with a β weight of 0.33, followed by work pressure, with a β weight of 0.31, and hospital management support, with a β weight of 0.30. CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown that patient safety can be improved by enhancing teamwork, collaboration, and communication among health professionals within hospitals. Patient safety can be improved when heads of units or clinical supervisors use their influence to change behavior and implement procedures that support health professionals working together as a team.