Perception of safety climate among nursing staff in operating rooms in Slovenia: a cross-sectional analytical study.

OBJECTIVES: (1) To determine the perceived level of safety climate among nursing staff in operating rooms (ORs) in Slovenia; (2) to investigate correlations and differences between professional position, length of service, healthcare level and perceived safety climate and (3) to identify independent predictors of overall and domain-specific safety climate perceptions. DESIGN: A cross-sectional non-experimental quantitative analytical study. SETTING: Surgical departments in 14 hospitals across Slovenia between June 2024 and November 2024. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 169 OR and anaesthesia nurses employed in surgical departments with a minimum of 1 year of work experience. MEASURES: Self-reported perceived safety climate in the OR using the Slovenian version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire-OR (SAQ-OR). RESULTS: Positive attitudes towards safety varied substantially across the SAQ-OR domains. The lowest proportion of positive responses was found in Perceptions of Management (7.7%; mean=45.89, 95% CI (42.92 to 48.87)), while the highest was recorded in Job Satisfaction (57.4%; mean=75.24, 95% CI (72.86 to 77.62)). OR nurses reported a more positive overall safety climate than anaesthesia nurses (mean difference=0.21, 95% CI (0.07 to 0.35)). Regression analyses identified the following independent predictors: professional nursing role for the global SAQ-OR score (β=-0.21, p=0.007) and institutional tenure for Stress Recognition (β=-0.23, p=0.004). The Perceptions of Management domain was predicted by professional role (β=-0.17, p=0.033) and institutional tenure as a positive driver (β=0.16, p=0.041). CONCLUSIONS: The safety climate among nursing staff working in Slovenian ORs was perceived as moderately positive, with notable variation across SAQ-OR domains and professional groups. Professional role and institutional tenure were identified as independent predictors of safety climate perceptions.