{"id":8083,"date":"2022-01-14T12:37:09","date_gmt":"2022-01-14T17:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/?page_id=8083"},"modified":"2026-03-27T08:27:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T12:27:16","slug":"patient-safety-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/patient-safety-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Patient Safety Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_11750\" class=\"thumbnail wp-caption alignright\" style=\"width: 401px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2026\/03\/Safety-Culture-Model-UNC-Health-Adapted-300x163.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"391\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2026\/03\/Safety-Culture-Model-UNC-Health-Adapted-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2026\/03\/Safety-Culture-Model-UNC-Health-Adapted-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2026\/03\/Safety-Culture-Model-UNC-Health-Adapted-600x325.png 600w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2026\/03\/Safety-Culture-Model-UNC-Health-Adapted.png 810w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 391px) 100vw, 391px\" \/><figcaption class=\"caption wp-caption-text\">Figure 1: Safety culture model adapted from James Reason (1997) and the Global Aviation Information Network (GAIN) Working Group E, 2004. UNC Health adaptation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Patient safety culture reflects the shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that shape how individuals and teams prioritize safety in everyday work. The Joint Commission defines <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jointcommission.org\/resources\/patient-safety\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">safety culture<\/a> as \u201cthe product of individual and group beliefs, values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the organization&#8217;s commitment to quality and patient safety.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), key features of a strong culture of safety include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Acknowledgment of the high-risk nature of healthcare work and a commitment to consistently safe operations<\/li>\n<li>A blame-aware environment where individuals can report errors or near misses without fear of punishment<\/li>\n<li>Collaboration across roles and disciplines to address safety challenges<\/li>\n<li>Organizational commitment of time, leadership, and resources to improve safety<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Resources to Get Started<\/h2>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 97.564%;height: 118px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 98px\">\n<td style=\"width: 7.60678%;text-align: center;height: 98px\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8060\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Read.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"137\" height=\"137\" \/><\/strong><strong>Read<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 93.2057%;height: 98px\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/unchcs.sharepoint.com\/sites\/MCOQE\/SitePages\/Patient-Safety.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Patient Safety, UNC Health Office of Quality Excellence<\/a> \u2013 This landing page outlines patient safety culture and its shared values, behaviors, and practices that support safe care and continuous improvement. It encourages <a href=\"https:\/\/unchcs.sharepoint.com\/sites\/MCOQE\/SitePages\/SAFE-System.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">open reporting<\/a>, teamwork, and learning from mistakes so organizations can reduce harm and improve outcomes. Note: These webpages can only be accessed if you are a UNC Health employee.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/psnet.ahrq.gov\/primer\/culture-safety\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Culture of Safety | PSNet<\/a> \u2013 This primer from Patient Safety Network (PSNet) provides an overview of patient safety culture and how shared values, beliefs, and behaviors shape how an organization prioritizes and practices patient safety.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 23px\">\n<td style=\"width: 7.60678%;height: 10px;text-align: center\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-8065\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-1536x1536.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-2048x2048.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/463\/2022\/01\/Icon-Use-2-600x600.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Use<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 93.2057%;height: 10px\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ihi.org\/library\/tools\/patient-safety-essentials-toolkit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Patient Safety Essentials Toolkit<\/a> \u2013 This IHI toolkit provides an overview of tools to guide your organization in improving patient safety. Tools include Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), the SBAR (Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation) technique, root cause analysis, and daily huddles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Related QI Concepts<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/root-cause-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Identifying Gaps &amp; Root Causes<\/a> &#8211; Understanding where breakdowns occur helps teams move beyond blaming individuals and instead address system issues that contribute to patient harm.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/partnering-patients-families\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Partnering with Patients &amp; Families<\/a> &#8211; Engaging patients and families brings valuable perspectives that help teams identify risks, improve communication, and design safer care processes.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/process-mapping\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Process Mapping<\/a> &#8211; Mapping workflows make hidden steps, handoffs, and vulnerabilities visible, allowing teams to identify safety risks and opportunities for improvement.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/pdsas-and-counting-things\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA)<\/a> &#8211; PDSA cycles allow teams to test safety changes on a small scale, learn quickly from results, and refine interventions before broader implementation.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/visual-management-board\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Visual Management<\/a> &#8211; Visual tools such as boards, dashboards, or status indicators make safety priorities and performance transparent, helping teams monitor risks and respond proactively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Patient safety culture reflects the shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that shape how individuals and teams prioritize safety in everyday work. The Joint Commission defines safety culture as \u201cthe product of individual and group beliefs, values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the organization&#8217;s commitment to quality and patient safety.&#8221; According to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/patient-safety-2\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Patient Safety Culture\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80504,"featured_media":0,"parent":210,"menu_order":46,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-8083","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Patient Safety Culture - Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ihqi\/resources\/patient-safety-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Patient Safety Culture - Institute for Healthcare Quality Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Patient safety culture reflects the shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that shape how individuals and teams prioritize safety in everyday work. 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