Measuring healthcare workers perceptions of what constitutes a compassionate organisational culture and working environment: Findings from a quantitative feasibility survey.

Introduction: Healthcare organisational cultures and working environments are highly complex, dynamic and constantly evolving settings. They significantly influence both the delivery and outcomes of care. Aim: This paper presents Phase 1 quantitative findings from a larger three phase feasibility study designed to develop and test a Cultural Health Check (CHC) toolkit to support healthcare workers, patients and organisations in the provision of safe, compassionate and dignified care. Methodology: A mixed methods was applied. The Health Check Healthcare Workers Questionnaire distributed across two National Health Service (NHS) Hospitals in England, United Kingdom. Both hospitals allocated two wards comprising of older people and surgical specialities. Findings: The newly devised Cultural Health Check Staff Rating Scale Version 1 (CHC –SRS Version 1) questionnaire was distributed to 223 healthcare workers. Ninety eight responses were returned giving a response rate of 44%. The CHC –SRS Version 1 has a significant Cronbach Alpha of .775; this reliability scaling is reflected in all sixteen items in the scale. Exploratory factor analysis identified two significant factors ‘Professional Practice and Support’ and ‘Workforce and Service Delivery’. These factors according to healthcare workers significantly impact on the organisational culture and quality of care delivered by staff. Conclusion: The Cultural Health Check Staff Rating Scale Version 1 (CHC –SRS Version 1) questionnaire is a newly validated measurement tool which could be used and applied to gauge healthcare workers perceptions of an organisations level of compassion. Historically we have focused on identifying how caring and compassionate nurses, doctors and related allied health professionals. This turns the attention on employers of nurses and other related organisations. Implications for nursing management: The questionnaire can be used to gauge the level of compassion with a healthcare organisational culture and working environment. Nurse managers and leaders should focus attention regarding how these two factors are supported and resources in the future.