Racial Bias Among Emergency Providers: Strategies to Mitigate Its Adverse Effects

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Disparities Research
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• The Research to Practice column analyzes findings with practice change implications for emergency care.
• Critiques Johnson et al.'s (2016) study on cognitive stressors, emergency department environments, and physician implicit racial bias.

Observation:

• The study investigated how emergency department characteristics and stressors influence physician racial bias and decision-making.
• Findings indicate that increased cognitive stress in physicians can lead to unconscious biases affecting clinical decisions.

Findings:

• Cognitive stressors in emergency settings are linked to heightened physician implicit racial bias.
• Unconscious biases demonstrably impact clinical judgment and decision-making processes.

Implications:

• Findings are critical given pandemic-related resource strain and the clear impact of bias on health disparities.
• Implicit bias training (IBT) is recommended for emergency providers.
• Medical and nurse educators must focus on executing and evaluating IBT outcomes effectively.