Perspectives on developing moral courage in pre-licensure education: A qualitative study

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality and safety
• Medical education
• Organizational behavior

Background:

• Error reporting and speaking up are crucial for reducing healthcare errors.
• Misalignment between organizational policies and individual beliefs can create fear, necessitating moral courage.
• Moral courage is essential for individuals to act despite potential personal consequences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore health professionals' perceptions of healthcare reporting and organizational culture.
• To inform pre-licensure education strategies for promoting moral courage.
• To enhance the development of moral courage in future healthcare professionals.

Main Methods:

• Thematic analysis of four semi-structured focus groups with fourteen health professions educators.
• In-depth, semi-structured individual interviews were conducted.
• Qualitative data analysis to identify key themes.

Main Results:

• Identified key organizational factors influencing error reporting.
• Defined essential individual characteristics for enacting moral courage.
• Determined priority methods for guiding and developing moral courage.

Conclusions:

• Leadership education in moral courage is essential.
• Educational interventions can promote reporting and develop moral courage.
• Academic guidelines are needed to improve healthcare error reporting and speaking up behaviors.