The Perception of Just Culture Across Disciplines in Healthcare

Abstract

Recently, leading healthcare providers have adopted the principles of just culture to guide their organizations in learning from mistakes to ultimately improve patient safety. To do this, they have adopted an approach to foster active learning wherein members of an organization are encouraged to openly discuss errors without the fear of reprisals. This paper reports results from a just culture survey that was developed at the University of Illinois as part of a patient safety fellowship project. As part of a team, participating hospitals agreed to take part in the study and creation of a “just” culture of shared accountability. Overall results from the survey indicate a slightly positive perception of just culture, but detailed analysis revealed significant differences in the perception of a just culture across professions and departments.