The mediating effect of organizational climate on the relationship between transformational leadership and patient safety: A study on Saudi hospitals

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to investigate the mediation effect of organizational climate on the relationship between Transformational Leadership and perceived patient safety in Saudi Hospitals from the nurses perspective. Patient safety has become a significant topic among health professionals, policy makers, and the public owing to the emphasis on the reported and unreported healthcare errors that result in negative situations. A quantitative research design was employed to collect data from nurses in Saudi hospitals to examine the hypothesized model. Out of 254 questionnaires distributed only 217 questionnaires were usable for analysis. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method was used to test the hypotheses. Based on the statistical results, this study supported the relationship between Transformational Leadership and organizational climate and the relationship between organizational climate and perception of patient safety. Finally, this study confirmed the full mediating effect of organizational climate on the relationship between Transformational Leadership and perception of patient safety. The findings of the study are of a great value to both theory and practice and have important implications for practitioners and policy-makers.