The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire

Prior to implementing WalkRounds, employees and physicians are asked to complete a Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) in order to establish baseline data on the existing culture of the organization. This scannable survey was developed by J. Bryan Sexton, Ph.D. and colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin. It has been used in over 500 hospitals in the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and has been psychometrically validated for use in critical care, operating rooms, pharmacy, ambulatory clinics, labor and delivery, and general inpatient settings (Sexton et al. 2000). The SAQ elicits caregiver attitudes through six factor analytically derived scales: teamwork climate, job satisfaction, perceptions of management, safety climate, working conditions, and stress recognition (Thomas et al. 2003). Recent studies show a strong correlation between WalkRounds implementation and improvement in SAQ scores of the individuals directly involved in WalkRounds.

Click here to access the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire.

Sexton, JB, Thomas, EJ, Helmreich, RL. "Error, stress, and teamwork in medicine and aviation: Cross sectional surveys." BMJ. 2000, Vol 320, 745-749.

Thomas, EJ, Sexton, JB, Helmreich, RL. "Discrepant attitudes about teamwork among critical care nurses and physicians." Critical Care Medicine. 2003, Vol 31(3), 956-959.