Methods: This study will use a mixed method which combined both qualitative and quantitative designs. This study will be conducted in three phases. The first phase will use qualitative research method to understand the nurses’ experiences of exposure to anticancer hazardous drugs and their perceptions about safety climate in their work environment. Fifteen participants will be recruited for face to face interview. The interview guides will be based on three attributes of safety climate: (1) creation of safe working environment by senior management in healthcare organizations; (2) shared perception of healthcare providers about safety of their working environment; and (3) the effective dissemination of safety information. The content analysis will be used to analyze qualitative data. In the second phase, the item contents of workplace safety climate measurement tool will be developed based on the results of the qualitative research. Five experts will be invited to rate the relevance and the clarity of each item of the measurement tool. We will recruit 10 participants to examine face validity of the tool. In the third phase, we will conduct a descriptive, cross sectional study to examine the validity and reliability of the measurement tool. Data will be collected at a medical center. Purposive sampling approach will be used to recruit the participants. Expected sample size is 400. The criterion- related validity will be tested by the Chinese Safety Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ). The construct validity will be examined by factor analysis. Reliability will be measured by Cronbach's α coefficient utilizing internal consistency. Descriptive statistics will be used to describe participants’ characteristics. The exploratory factor analyses will be conducted to determine the components present and provide estimates of the factor loadings.
Results: We expect to find out nurses’ perceptions of the workplace safety climate from the qualitative research and to construct the item contents of the measurement tool. Through rigorous psychometric testing, we will develop a reliable and validated scale for measuring safety climate in hospital.
Conclusion: The workplace safety climate measurement tool in hospital can be applied to evaluate healthcare providers’ work environment. More considerations to the safety climate in the workplace will help nurses to compliance with safe work practices. Results of this study can provide recommendations in nursing clinical practice, education, research and policy.