Aim: To measure safety performance, situational judgement test, which is a method composed of job‐related situations, can be used. This study aimed to develop and test its psychometric properties by measuring the safety performance of healthcare professionals in German hospitals.Design: An explorative cross‐sectional study.Methods: A team of researchers, nurses and physicians developed seven items, which focus on different safety areas. Descriptive statistics were calculated for each item. Cronbach's alpha was calculated as an indication of internal consistency. Spearman's correlation between the items was evaluated as analysis of construct validity. A cross‐sectional survey with healthcare professionals in three German hospitals was conducted to test the developed instrument.Results: A total of 168 healthcare professionals participated (response rate: 39.1%). 70.2% were women, and 38.7%, 33.9%, 15.5% and 11.3% were registered nurses, nurses in training, physicians and other healthcare professionals respectively. The situational judgement test demonstrated an acceptable psychometric performance.

Improving patient safety and reducing occupational accidents are two of the main challenges in healthcare. Instruments to measure safety performance and occupational safety are rare. This study aimed to prepare and validate a German version of the adapted workplace health and safety instrument to assess the safety performance of healthcare professionals. Overall, 168 healthcare professionals participated in this explorative cross-sectional study. The instrument consists of 16 items related to safety performance in four dimensions. We calculated mean values and standard deviations for each individual item and those of the four dimensions of the instrument. We evaluated internal consistency and construct validity, explored the dimensionality of the instrument through exploratory factor analysis, and tested how our data fit with the original model with confirmatory factor analysis. Among the participants, 73.8% were nurses and nurses in training, with the majority of the sample being female (71.9%) and younger than 30 (52.5%). Cronbach’s alpha for all four dimensions was >0.7. All items were loaded on factors according to the original theoretical model. Confirmatory factor analysis showed good model fit (normed χ²/df = 1.43 (≤2.5), root mean square error of approximation = 0.06 (≤0.07), goodness of fit index = 0.90 (>0.90), comparative fit index = 0.95 (≥0.90), and Tucker–Lewis index = 0.93 (>0.90). The German version of the instrument demonstrated acceptable properties and was a good fit to the original theoretical model, allowing measurement of healthcare professionals’ safety knowledge, motivation, compliance, and participation.

Healthcare professionals need specific safety performance skills in order to maintain and improve patient safety. The purpose of this study is to get a deeper understanding of healthcare professionals’ perspective in acute care on the topic of safety performance. This study was conducted using a qualitative approach. Healthcare professionals working in nursing were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Using content analyzing, categories were identified which present aspects of safety performance; subcategories were developed deductively. A total of 23 healthcare professionals were interviewed, of which 15 were registered nurses, five were nursing students and three were pedagogical personnel. Nine (39.1%) were <30 years old, 17 (73.9%) were female, and 9 (39.1%) had a leadership function. Results highlight the importance of safety performance as a construct of occupational health rather than of patient safety, and the role of the organization, as well as the self-responsibility of healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals should be more conscious of their role, have a deeper understanding of the interaction of individual, team, patient, organization and work environment factors.