Patient Safety Coaching in Healthcare

Coaching is a developmental, relational, and social process that motivates and supports coachees to solve their own problems and achieve their goals. The coaching process helps individuals and teams gain greater self-awareness and insight into their current situation and guides them toward behavioral change. Change will occur when the coachee is ready to learn and relates the issue to their life or work and when they feel valued, supported, and involved in their own learning. Coaching may be process-oriented to develop the intangible, “soft skills” or content-oriented to develop competency-based, performance skills that enhance their clinical expertise. The role of the coach is to listen and reflect nonjudgmentally, to help the coachee discover the solutions which are inside them, and help them to improve their current situation. Coaching does not have to be conducted in a formal setting; individuals may be coached informally “on-the-run” as they perform their daily duties. In a healthcare setting, coaching supports the utilization of strengths and learning from excellence, develops staff capability in the nontechnical interpersonal skills, reduces stress, and promotes resilience and wellbeing. When adopted by all leaders and teams as a better way of behaving, communicating with, and relating to others, coaching can lead to transformational cultural change.