Perception of nursing professionals on patient safety culture.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate nursing professionals' perception on safety climate, to check if this perception differs between categories and if there is correlation between the Safety Attitude Questionaire (SAQ) domains and personal and professional variables.

METHOD: Quantitative and transversal study held in a teaching hospital in the countryside of São Paulo, in Brazil. Data collection occurred in the period from April to July 2014, with the application of the SAQ.

RESULTS: 259 professionals participated in the study. The domain job satisfaction obtained scores above 75 for both categories. The perception of safety climate differed between the categories for most areas, except for the recognition of stress, and there is correlation between five SAQ domains and the variables time of experience and intention to leave the profession.

CONCLUSION: Knowing the professionals' perception on safety climate will contribute to a secure assistance.