Safety culture

How it is used

Many hospitals aim for a 'just culture', in which staff are not blamed for honest mistakes but reckless behaviour is still dealt with. Safety culture is measured with staff surveys, and leaders are expected to make it safe to speak up.

Example sentences

1. In a strong safety culture, a junior nurse can stop a senior surgeon if something looks wrong.

2. The rise in incident reports shows that our safety culture is getting stronger.

Common collocations

• build a safety culture
• just culture
• safety culture survey
• speak up

Related terms

• incident reportA written record of an event that harmed, or could have harmed, a patient, visitor or member of staff, sent so that it can be investigated and learned from.
• patient safetyThe prevention of avoidable harm to patients during care, through safe systems, clear procedures and a culture of learning from mistakes.
• near missAn error or unsafe situation that was noticed and stopped before it could reach or harm a patient.
• clinical governanceThe system through which a healthcare organisation is held responsible for improving the quality of its services and keeping high standards of care.

More terms: Patient Safety and Risk

• adverse event
• medication error
• root cause analysis
• hospital-acquired infection
• informed consent
• never event
• risk assessment