Exploring caregiver support: healthcare leaders' perspectives on medical errors

Clinicians involved in errors leading to preventable patient harm often receive inadequate organisational support. Limited research examines this issue from an organisational perspective. This study aims to elucidate and evaluate healthcare leaders' (HLs') perspectives on medical errors and caregiver support.

A convenience sample of 81 HLs participated in this study that included the Medical Error Attitude Scale (MEAS) and questions about caregiver support synthesised from evidence-based resources.

Most participants were from acute care settings (83.1%) and were chief executives (69.3%). MEAS scores were high, indicating enlightened attitudes about medical errors. Over one-third (38.8%) could not confirm their organisation had a caregiver support programme (CSP). Fewer than 50% of HLs from organisations with a CSP expressed certainty about its effectiveness and utilisation. Still, most were confident about its value to the organisation (84.3%) and return on investment (82.2%). Some participants (33.3%) indicated healthcare organisations may have conflicts of interest interfering with optimal caregiver support.

HLs have enlightened views about medical errors, yet organisational caregiver support after errors is often suboptimal. Existing CSPs may lack important structural elements such as executive buy-in and tiers of support. Organisations can improve caregiver support by developing comprehensive approaches to patient safety, utilising tools such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's CANDOR process or the National Health Services' National Patient Safety Strategy documents.