Patient safety and professional discourses: implications for interprofessionalism

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety Research
• Interprofessional Education

Background:

• Patient safety is a critical concern across health professions, driving efforts in standardized competencies and interprofessional education.
• Despite initiatives, hospital patient safety improvements have been slow, indicating deeper systemic issues.
• Existing literature suggests patient safety is complex, influenced by organizational and professional contexts beyond technical solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how different health professions conceptualize, discuss, and understand patient safety within an acute care hospital setting.
• To identify potential barriers and facilitators to interprofessional collaboration in patient safety initiatives.
• To analyze the influence of professional and organizational contexts on patient safety practices.

Main Methods:

• Critical discourse analysis of patient safety-related documents.
• Semi-structured interviews with formal healthcare leaders and practicing clinicians (medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, social work).
• Analysis of professional and organizational contexts influencing patient safety.

Main Results:

• Significant differences exist in how various health professions perceive and articulate patient safety.
• Professional and organizational contexts shape the understanding and implementation of patient safety.
• Discourse analysis revealed varied approaches to patient safety knowledge and practice across disciplines.

Conclusions:

• Patient safety is not solely a technical problem but is deeply embedded in professional and organizational cultures.
• Understanding interprofessional differences in safety discourse is crucial for effective collaboration.
• Addressing patient safety requires acknowledging and navigating diverse professional perspectives and contexts.