Practising Open Disclosure: clinical incident communication and systems improvement

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Medical Ethics
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Open Disclosure (OD) is an international policy requiring open discussion of clinical incidents with patients.
• Healthcare organizations are implementing OD policies to improve transparency and patient relations.
• Staff training, including simulated scenarios, is crucial for effective OD implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze how frontline healthcare staff are trained to articulate apologies to patients.
• To investigate the impact of simulated apology training on clinicians' professional and personal development.
• To understand how Open Disclosure training influences clinicians' roles within healthcare organizations.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data collected from simulated apology training sessions with actor-patients.
• Qualitative assessment of how frontline staff engage with and evaluate apology disclosures.
• Examination of the reconciliation process between clinicians' emotional responses and professional obligations.

Main Results:

• Simulated apologising effectively engages frontline staff in evaluating disclosure efficacy.
• Staff training facilitates the integration of affective and reflexive sensibilities with professional responsibilities.
• The process helps staff produce organizational apologies that align with policy requirements.

Conclusions:

• Open Disclosure training aids clinicians in reconciling personal and professional demands when apologizing.
• The policy may reduce tensions between healthcare providers and patients.
• Open Disclosure influences how healthcare staff perceive and perform their roles within the broader system.