Manifestations of High-Reliability Principles on Hospital Units With Varying Safety Profiles: A Qualitative Analysis

To prevent patient harm, health care organizations are adopting practices from other complex work environments known as high-reliability organizations (HRO).

The purpose was to explore differences in manifestations of HRO principles on hospital units with high and low safety performance.

Focus groups were conducted on units scoring high or low on safety measures. Themes were identified using a grounded theory approach, and responses were compared using qualitative thematic analysis.

High performers indicated proactive responses to safety issues and expressed understanding of systems-based errors, while low performers were more reactive and often focused on individual education to address issues. Both groups experienced communication challenges, although they employed different methods of speaking up.

Some HRO principles were present in the language used by our participants. High performers exhibited greater manifestations of HRO, although HRO alone was insufficient to describe our results. Mindful organizing, which expands on HRO, was a better fit.