Summary
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the safety climate perceptions of the multicultural
nursing workforce, and to investigate the influence of diversity of the multicultural
nursing workforce on clinical safety in a large tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia.
Background
Working in a multicultural environment is challenging. Each culture has its own unique
characteristics and dimensions that shape the language, lifestyle, beliefs, values,
customs, traditions, and patterns of behaviour, which expatriate nurses must come
to terms with. However, cultural diversity in the health care environment can potentially
affect the quality of care and patient safety.
Method
A mixed-method case study (survey, interview and document analysis) was employed.
A primary study phase entailed the administration of the Safety Climate Survey (SCS).
A population sampling strategy was used and 319 nurses participated, yielding a 76.8%
response rate. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Kruskal–Wallis test) were used
to analyse survey data.
Results
The data revealed the nurses’ perceptions of the clinical safety climate in this multicultural
environment was unsafe, with a mean score of 3.9 out of 5. No significant difference
was found between the age groups, years of nursing experience and their perceptions
of the safety climate in this context. A significant difference was observed between
the national background categories of nurses and perceptions of safety climate.
Conclusion
Cultural diversity within the nursing workforce could have a significant influence
on perceptions of clinical safety. These findings have the potential to inform policy
and practice related to cultural diversity in Saudi Arabia.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 10, 2012
Accepted:
August 15,
2012
Received in revised form:
August 14,
2012
Received:
May 20,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Australian College of Nursing Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
