This paper compares the implementation of a safety culture model for Australian and Italian nurses working in acute settings. The paper compares the implementation of safety culture model in a core NPM country Australia and a NPM laggard country (Pollitt & Bouckaert 2011).
A survey-based, self-report process was used to collect data from 248 nurses working in a hospital in Italy and 141 nurses working for 5 Australian hospitals. The findings suggest a significantly different approaches to implementing safety.
To examine the difference in the latent means of the examined constructs across the two samples we compared the latent mean estimations of the constrained Italian sample against the freely estimated Australian sample. The model had appropriate fit with the χ² / df was 2.011, CFI was .920, TLI was .913 and the RMSEA was .051, all which were within commonly accepted thresholds (Marsh, Balla, & McDonald, 1988; Ping, 2004). The results from the mean invariance test for our analysis indicated significant differences in the distribution of the latent constructs except safety priority, safety procedures and safety compliance. In all cases, Australian nurses were shown to have higher levels for the significantly different factors.
We examine the differences in the hypothesised paths between the Italian and Australian sample using the multiple-group analysis function in SEM. The model had appropriate fit with the χ² / df was 1.679, CFI was .943, TLI was .942 and the RMSEA was .039, all which were within commonly accepted thresholds (Marsh, Balla, & McDonald, 1988; Ping, 2004). The significant difference between the configural and measurement model suggests that the way the variables interact between the two groups is significantly different.
The findings indicate significant differences in the way a similar program was implemented for nurses in two different countries. The means were higher in Australia, which is an example of a core-NPM country with high accountability and high managerial discretionary power. These factors are likely to have shaped the implementation process and outcomes.
Organisational change and the organisation of public sector work
