Coaching to Develop a Patient Safety Culture

The third purpose of patient safety coaching is to assist leaders and executives develop a patient safety culture within frontline teams and the healthcare organization. A patient safety culture is focused on the aspects of organizational culture that either support or hinder patient safety in all treatment settings, starting from the time of initial contact through to diagnosis, treatment, follow-up, and rehabilitation. A patient safety culture is formed when all staff members share the values of patient safety, understand and share the meaning behind the words, are focused on a common purpose, and behave in ways that demonstrate commitment to patient safety. In a psychologically safe patient safety culture, staff report near misses without fear of blame or recrimination, to keep patients safe. In a patient safety culture—a Safety-11 environment (Hollnagel, E., Wears, R., & Braithwaite, J. (2015). From Safety-I to Safety-II: A White Paper. University of Southern Denmark/University of Florida/Macquarie University)—staff are respected, processes are open and transparent, and relevant data/resources are available when needed. The organization cares less about hierarchy than it does about supporting staff and delivering quality patient care. A dedicated patient safety culture is sustained by staff who have a shared understanding of what patient safety means.