Patient engagement with psychological safety

Abstract

Psychological safety is a multidimensional, dynamic phenomenon that concerns team members' perception of whether it is safe to take interpersonal risks at work. It is particularly important within health care teams who need to work interdependently to coordinate safe patient care within a highly complex, variable and high-stakes work environment. High levels of psychological safety have clear benefits for patient safety by improving the delivery of clinical care and promoting health care providers' job satisfaction and well-being. Feeling psychologically safe can enable team members to engage in speaking up behavior, such as asking questions, pointing out mistakes, or reporting errors. Several studies have explored psychological safety in health care teams and its impact on patient safety. These studies have highlighted the importance of psychological safety in health care organizations and provided strategies for promoting psychological safety. Psychological safety in health care involvement with patients can improve patient engagement.