Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To describe healthcare professionals' (HCPs) assessment of safety culture in adults and paediatric critical care units in governmental hospitals in Kuwait. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey study. SETTING: Adults and paediatric critical care units in Kuwait from January to April 2023. PARTICIPANTS: Full-time HCPs (physicians, nurses and clinical pharmacists) who are in direct contact with patients and work in adults and paediatric critical care units. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: Patient safety culture practices. RESULTS: The population consisted of 945 HCPs from adult and paediatric critical care units. In general, across most dimensions, perceptions were more positive toward the patient safety culture. Adult critical care settings were mostly higher in negative responses compared with the paediatric setting. In general, all the HCPs responded positively towards 'Teamwork Climate', ranging from 41.5% to 85.0%, with the same pattern in the adult and paediatric settings. In both settings, 'Safety Climate' in general was responded to positively, ranging from 51.3% to 86.2%, and patterns between the two settings were the same. 'Job Satisfaction' showed positive responses between 68.2% and 88.3%. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, HCPs from adult and paediatric critical care units rated patient safety culture dimensions positively. The patient safety procedures needing improvement were staff shortages, harsh workloads, poor communication and training. Providing frequent communication training and supporting personnel could further strengthen the critical care safety culture.