Keeping patients safe in healthcare organizations: A structuration theory of safety culture

Journal of Advanced Nursing

Volumn 67, Issue 8, 2011, Pages 1846-1855

  Groves, Patricia S ^a   Meisenbach, Rebecca J ^a   Scott Cawiezell, Jill ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF IOWA COLLEGE OF NURSING   (United States)

Author keywords

Communication; Healthcare organization; Healthcare professionals; Nursing; Patient safety; Safety culture; Structuration theory

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; ATTITUDE TO HEALTH; HOSPITAL; HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT; HUMAN; INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION; LEADERSHIP; MEDICAL ERROR; MORTALITY; NONBIOLOGICAL MODEL; NURSING STAFF; ORGANIZATION; ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT; PATIENT; SAFETY; STANDARD; STATISTICS; UNITED STATES;

COMMUNICATION; HEALTH FACILITY ADMINISTRATION; HEALTH KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, PRACTICE; HOSPITALS; HUMANS; LEADERSHIP; MEDICAL ERRORS; MODELS, ORGANIZATIONAL; NURSING STAFF; ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE; PATIENTS; SAFETY MANAGEMENT; UNITED STATES;

EID: 79960401626     PISSN: 03092402     EISSN: 13652648     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05619.x     Document Type: Article

References (38)

1. AHRQ (n.d.) Patient Safety Primer: Safety Culture. Retrieved from on 22 February 2009.
2. Colla J.B., Bracken A.C., Kinney L.M. & Weeks W.B. (2005) Measuring patient safety climate: a review of surveys. Quality and Safety in Health Care 14, 364-366.
3. Consumer Reports Health (2009) To Err is Human - To Delay is Deadly. Retrieved from on 11 November 2009.
4. Deetz S.A. (2001) Conceptual foundations. In The New Handbook of Organizational Communication: Advances in Theory, Research, and Methods (Jablin F.M. & Putnam L.L., eds), Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 3-46.
5. Eisenberg E.M. & Riley P. (2001) Organizational culture. In The New Handbook of Organizational Communication: Advances in Theory, Research, and Methods (Jablin F.M. & Putnam L.L., eds), Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 291-322.
6. Feng X., Bobay K. & Weiss M. (2008) Patient safety culture in nursing: a dimensional concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing 63(3), 310-319.
7. Giddens A. (1984) The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.
8. HealthGrades (2009) The Sixth Annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study. Health Grades Incorporated, Retrieved from on 11 August 2009.
9. Heracleous L. & Hendry J. (2000) Discourse and the study of organization: toward a structurational perspective. Human Relations 53, 1251-1286.
10. International Council of Nurses (2000) Global Opinion Polls Tell the Story: Nurses are Always There for You. Retrieved from on 8 March 2009.
11. Jones M.R. & Karsten H. (2008) Giddens's structuration theory and information systems research. MIS Quarterly 32(1), 127-157.
12. Kirby E.L. & Krone K.J. (2002) "The policy exists but you can't really use it": communication and the structuration of work-family policies. Journal of Applied Communication Research 30(1), 50-77.
13. Kitch B.T., Ferris T.G. & Campbell E.G. (2008) Safety culture. In Summary of the Evidence on Patient Safety: Implications for Research (Jha A., ed.), WHO Press, Geneva, Switzerland, pp. 54-56.
14. Kohn L.T., Corrigan J.M. & Donaldson L.S. (eds) (2000) To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
15. Nieva V.F. & Sorra J. (2003) Safety culture assessment: a tool for improving patient safety in healthcare organizations. Quality and Safety in Health Care 12(Suppl. 2), ii17-ii23.
16. Page A. (ed.) (2004) Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses. National Academies Press, Washington, DC.
17. Paine L.A., Baker D.R., Rosenstein B. & Pronovost P.J. (2004) The Johns Hopkins Hospital: identifying and addressing risks and safety issues. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Safety 30(10), 542-550.
18. Perrow C. (1984) Normal Accidents: Living with High Risk Technologies. Basic Books, New York.
19. Pizzi L.T., Goldfarb N.I. & Nash D.B. (2001) Promoting a culture of safety. In Making Health Care Safer: A Critical Analysis of Patient Safety Practices (Shojania K.G., Duncan B.W., McDonald K.M. & Wachter R.M., eds), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD, pp. 447-457.
20. Poole M.S. & McPhee R.D. (2005) Structuration theory. In Engaging Organizational Communication Theory & Research: Multiple Perspectives (May S. & Mumby D.K., eds), Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 171-195.
21. Pronovost P. & Sexton B. (2005) Assessing safety culture: guidelines and recommendations. Quality and Safety in Health Care 14, 231-233.
22. Pronovost P., Goeschel C.A., Marsteller J.A., Sexton J.B., Pham J.C. & Berenholta S.M. (2009) Framework for patient safety research and improvement. Circulation 119, 330-337.
23. Reason J. (1997) Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents. Ashgate, Burlington, VT.
24. Rijpma J.A. (1997) Complexity, tight-coupling and reliability: connecting normal accidents theory and high reliability theory. Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Management 5, 15-23.
25. Riley P. (1983) A structurationist account of political culture. Administrative Science Quarterly 28(3), 414-437.
26. Rose R. (2006) A proposal for integrating structuration theory with coordinated management of meaning theory. Communication Studies 57(2), 173-196.
27. Schein E.H. (2000) Sense and nonsense about culture and climate. In Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate (Ashkanasy N.M., Wilderom C.P.M. & Peterson M.F., eds), Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. xxiii-xxx.
28. Scott T., Mannion R., Daview H. & Marshall M. (2003) The quantitative measurement of organizational culture in health care: a review of the available instruments. Health Services Research 38(3), 923-945.
29. Sillince J.A.A. (2007) Organizational context and the discursive construction of organizing. Management Communication Quarterly 20(4), 363-394.
30. Sorra J., Famolaro T., Dyer N., Nelson D. & Khanna K. (2009) Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture: 2009 Comparative Database Report. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD.
31. Tamuz M. & Harrison M.I. (2006) Improving patient safety in hospitals: contributions of high-reliability theory and normal accident theory. Health Services Research 41, 1654-1676.
32. Turner J.H. (1986) Review: the theory of structuration. The American Journal of Sociology 91(4), 969-977.
33. U.S. Census Bureau (2008) Facts for Features Special Edition: National Nurses Week (May 6-12) and National Hospital Week (May 8-14). Retrieved from on 28 February 2009.
34. Weick K.E. & Sutcliffe K.M. (2001) Managing the Unexpected: Assuring High Performance in an Age of Complexity. John Wiley & Sons, San Francisco.
35. Weick K.E., Sutcliffe K.M. & Obstfeld D. (2008) Organizing for high reliability: processes of collective mindfulness. In Crisis Management: Volume III (Boin A., ed.), Sage, London, pp. 31-66.
36. Wiegmann D.A., Hui Z., von Thaden T.L., Sharma G. & Gibbons A.M. (2004) Safety culture: an integrative review. International Journal of Aviation Psychology 14(2), 117-134.
37. Witmer D.F. (1997) Communication and recovery: structuration as an ontological approach to organizational culture. Communication Monographs 64(4), 324.
38. World Health Organization (2009) 10 Facts on Patient Safety. Retrieved from on 8 March 2009.