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

Abstract

BackgroundError reporting and speaking up are mechanisms to reduce the incidence of healthcare errors. However, organizational policies don't always align with individuals' perceptions and beliefs to promote these mechanisms. When this misalignment produces fear, moral courage, which is taking action regardless of personal consequences, becomes necessary. Teaching moral courage in pre-licensure education may set a foundation for individuals to speak up in post-licensure careers. AimTo explore health professionals' perceptions of healthcare reporting and organizational culture to inform pre-licensure education on how to promote moral courage. MethodsThematic analysis of four semi-structured focus groups with fourteen health professions educators followed by in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews. FindingsOrganizational factors, characteristics that an individual must possess to enact moral courage and priority methods to guide moral courage were identified. ConclusionsThis study outlines the need for leadership education in moral courage and offers educational interventions to promote reporting and aid in developing moral courage academic guidelines to improve healthcare error reporting and speaking up behaviors.