Relationships between Head Nurse’s Work Safety Management and Safety Work Behavior Perceived by Perioperative Nurses in General Hospitals, Southern of Thailand

Abstract

The objectives of this descriptive research were to study head nurse’s work safety management perceived by perioperative nurses, safety behaviors of perioperative nurses and the relationships between head nurse’ work safety management perceived by perioperative nurses and safety behaviors of perioperative nurses in general hospitals, southern of Thailand. One hundred and twenty six perioperative nurses were selected by simple random sampling technique. The instrument was a questionnaire developed by the researcher covering 3 parts, namely (1) the demographic data form, (2) the head nurse’s work safety management, which was developed by the researcher based on the safety management framework of Fernández-Muñiz, Montes-Peón & Vázquez-Ordás, 2007, (3) the safety behavior of perioperative nurses, which was developed under the framework of safety in work of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, 2007. The contents of parts 2 and 3 of the questionnaire were validated by three experts, yielding a content validity index (CVI) of 0.95 and .96 respectively. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and Pearson’ s product moment correlation coefficient.

The results showed that the mean total score of head nurse’s work safety management was at a medium level (M=2.66, SD=0.71). The mean total score of safety behavior of perioperative nurses was at a high level (M=3.23, SD=0.38). Head nurse’s work safety management perceived by perioperative nurses was significantly and positively related to safety behavior of perioperative nurses (r=0.46) at the .01 level. The results of this study can be used for planning and creating safety management in the workplace, promoting safety behavior and decreasing the incidence of occupational hazards that will facilitate high organizational performance.