Perceived Leadership and Safety Culture of Health Care Professionals in a Government Hospital in Cebu City, Philippines

Abstract

Introduction: Effective leadership is a cornerstone in cultivating a patient safety culture, particularly in acute care hospital particularly where communication, teamwork, proactive problem solving can prevent hazards such as falls, medication errors, staffing issues. When health care leaders, managers foster a supportive and optimistic environment, they enhance collaboration, boost morale and strengthen the quality of care.

Materials and Methods: A descriptive correlational quantitative design was used in the study. A total of 353 healthcare workers were selected using stratified random sampling.

The perceived level leadership of management was measured using the Leadership Assessment Tool, while perceived level of patient safety culture of healthcare workers was assessed using Manchester Patient Safety Culture Assessment Tool (MaPSCAT). Participants were healthcare workers assigned to the hospital in the Philippines. The participants were asked using a paper-to-pen test.

Results: In this study, all indicators under level leadership of management scored ranging from 16-20 stating that healthcare workers have stronger authentic leadership. On the other hand, among all factors of on the perceived level of patient safety culture, teamwork has the greatest score of maturity level of proactive to generative level (proactive n=132: generative n=127) which means that healthcare workers-imposed collaboration and cooperation to each other to have safety culture in their working environment. Furthermore, Leadership and Patient Safety Culture under pearson’s r correlation test showed significant relationship (p<.05) to each other with a resulting r-value of .329. This result showed weak positive correlation. Moreover, among all profile variables, only job position showed significant relationship towards safety and culture of healthcare workers (p<.05, X^2=253.135a).

Conclusion/Implications: The study found that while authentic leadership is conspicuous in the organization, with an emphasis on integrity, transparency, and moral courage, the impact of this style on patient safety culture is statistically significant but only marginal. Thus, leadership, while an important aspect, does not solely influence safety outcomes. The existing proactive safety climate, mainly in teamwork and training, manifests a commendable commitment to quality care, but one-on-one improvement in communication is warranted. Notably, job position was the only significant demographic factor noted about safety perception, which reflects the need for safety interventions tailored to different job categories. These results suggest that healthcare organizations should place priority within their strategic plan for leadership development and interventions for safety which are position-specific, thereby creating a culture of safety to enhance organizational performance.