Relationship between patient safety culture and job burnout in Iranian nurses: Assessing the mediating role of second victim experience using structural equation modelling

Aim The study examined the mediating effect of the second victim experience between safety culture and burnout in Iranian nurses. Methods A convenience sample of 298 nurses from five teaching hospitals of Urmia participated in the study. Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture, Maslach Burnout Inventory and The Second Victim Experience and Support Tool were used to measure the major variables. We adopted structural equation modelling to examine the hypotheses. Results Safety culture was significantly associated with second victim experience and burnout (p < .01). Second victim experience had a partial mediating role on the relationship between safety culture and burnout (p < .01). The mediating model including major variables showed satisfactory fitness (chi(2)/df = 2.11,p < .01, Comparative Fit Index = 0.94, root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.062). Conclusions Establishing a safety culture is crucial for decreasing job burnout, and second victim experience has an intervening role clarifying how high level of safety culture reduces burnout. Implications for Nursing Management Managers should plan to promote safety culture and provide sufficient support to staff involved in the patient safety incident, which could reduce staff burnout.