Exploring Safety Culture, Production Pressure, Occupational Burnout, and Patient Safety in Anesthesia

Anesthesia-related studies have found that many adverse events are related to human factors including occupational burnout, safety culture, and production pressure. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between those factors to identify potential interventions to improve patient safety and anesthesia practice. This exploratory study used a cross-sectional design with a survey administered via e-mail to nurse anesthetists. The survey consisted of the Survey on Patient Safety, Maslach's Burnout Inventory, and the NASA task-load-index. Data analysis included linear mixed regression models, Spearman correlations, and Cronbach's alpha. Covariates included age, years of clinical experience, zip codes, and gender. We found that the best predictors of patient safety are hospitals' culture of safety and staffing patterns. Adequate staffing had the largest impact on reducing occupational burnout and nurse anesthetists' intentions to leave their jobs. Less experienced nurse anesthetists reported lower patient safety scores. Successful interventions to improve institutional factors need to be implemented and supported by management with an emphasis on open communication among all team members to elicit lasting changes. Additionally, interventions should focus on appropriate staffing, team training, and resilience training because these have the greatest impact.