The article by Sexton et al. (2006) reports on the psychometric properties, benchmarking data, and emerging research related to the University of Texas Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ is a tool designed to measure healthcare provider attitudes about patient safety, often referred to as safety climate or safety culture. The study involved six cross-sectional surveys of healthcare providers in 203 clinical areas across three countries (USA, UK, and New Zealand), totaling 10,843 participants. Multilevel factor analyses were conducted to assess the reliability and validity of the SAQ at both the clinical area and individual levels. Key findings include: - A six-factor model of provider attitudes was found to fit the data well, encompassing Teamwork Climate, Safety Climate, Perceptions of Management, Job Satisfaction, Working Conditions, and Stress Recognition. - Scale reliability was high at 0.9, indicating strong internal consistency. - Provider attitudes varied significantly both within and among organizations, providing benchmarking data for comparison. - The SAQ can be used to measure caregiver attitudes in six patient safety-related domains, compare organizations, prompt interventions to improve safety attitudes, and evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. The authors conclude that the SAQ demonstrates good psychometric properties and is a valuable tool for assessing and improving patient safety in healthcare settings. They also discuss the potential for further research and the importance of considering the context of care at the clinical area level.The article by Sexton et al. (2006) reports on the psychometric properties, benchmarking data, and emerging research related to the University of Texas Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ is a tool designed to measure healthcare provider attitudes about patient safety, often referred to as safety climate or safety culture. The study involved six cross-sectional surveys of healthcare providers in 203 clinical areas across three countries (USA, UK, and New Zealand), totaling 10,843 participants. Multilevel factor analyses were conducted to assess the reliability and validity of the SAQ at both the clinical area and individual levels. Key findings include: - A six-factor model of provider attitudes was found to fit the data well, encompassing Teamwork Climate, Safety Climate, Perceptions of Management, Job Satisfaction, Working Conditions, and Stress Recognition. - Scale reliability was high at 0.9, indicating strong internal consistency. - Provider attitudes varied significantly both within and among organizations, providing benchmarking data for comparison. - The SAQ can be used to measure caregiver attitudes in six patient safety-related domains, compare organizations, prompt interventions to improve safety attitudes, and evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. The authors conclude that the SAQ demonstrates good psychometric properties and is a valuable tool for assessing and improving patient safety in healthcare settings. They also discuss the potential for further research and the importance of considering the context of care at the clinical area level.