The most important thing in  communication is hearing what isn’t said: An overview of communication  and psychological safety in a  healthcare setting.

In the dynamic world of healthcare, where people work together in multidisciplinary teams, psychological safety is necessary for effective teamwork. Psychological safety leads to more team learning, self-expression and personal engagement that in turn increases team effectivity. With those beneficial effects in mind, an important part (the first subquestion) of this study focused on the level of psychological safety of various actors at the department of Neurology/Neurosurgery/Neurocare in a large university hospital. Furthermore, this first subquestion served a larger goal. The hospital is about to implement changes in rules and regulations concerning the work activities of healthcare workers, in order to increase patient safety. According to the results of this study, the level of psychological safety was on an adequate level. The second subquestion addressed the prevalent communication styles among colleagues on the work floor of the abovementioned departments. The results...Show moreIn the dynamic world of healthcare, where people work together in multidisciplinary teams, psychological safety is necessary for effective teamwork. Psychological safety leads to more team learning, self-expression and personal engagement that in turn increases team effectivity. With those beneficial effects in mind, an important part (the first subquestion) of this study focused on the level of psychological safety of various actors at the department of Neurology/Neurosurgery/Neurocare in a large university hospital. Furthermore, this first subquestion served a larger goal. The hospital is about to implement changes in rules and regulations concerning the work activities of healthcare workers, in order to increase patient safety. According to the results of this study, the level of psychological safety was on an adequate level. The second subquestion addressed the prevalent communication styles among colleagues on the work floor of the abovementioned departments. The results suggested that healthcare workers use significantly more directive (dominant and contentious) communication styles compared to non-directive (attentive and friendly) communication styles. No difference was found between the communication styles of nurses and doctors. Since the way of communication may influence psychological safety, the third subquestion focused on the relationship of communication styles and psychological safety. No association was found between those two concepts. However, we found some indications in our very small sample size that nurses with non-directive communication styles may be vulnerable to experiencing a lower level of psychological safety. Because of Covid-19 regulations, the sample size was limited, so the findings are not generalisable. However, this study does serve as a proof-of-concept of a study that can be conducted in the future. In a subsequent similar study, the same method with some modifications can be used to get more generalisable findings and insights into the relationship between communication styles and psychological safety.Show less

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The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said: An overview of communication and psychological safety in a healthcare setting.