A concept analysis of psychological safety: Further understanding for application to health care

TLDR

The study aims to clarify psychological safety in healthcare and develop a theoretical framework to improve workplace relationships and patient care. The authors conducted a Rodgers’ concept analysis, systematically searching PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Ichushi-Web. Analysis of 88 articles revealed five attributes of psychological safety—perceived consequences of risk‑taking, strong interpersonal relationships, group‑level phenomenon, a safe environment for risk‑taking, and a non‑punitive culture—along with antecedents (structure, interpersonal, individual factors) and four consequence categories (performance, organizational culture, psychological, and behavioral outcomes).

Abstract

Abstract Aim To clarify the concept of psychological safety in a healthcare context and to provide the first theoretical framework for improving interpersonal relationships in the workplace to better patient care. Design A Rodgers’ concept analysis. Methods The concept analysis was conducted using a systematic search strategy on PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Ichushi‐Web. Results An analysis of 88 articles studying psychological safety in health care identified five attributes: perceptions of the consequences of taking interpersonal risks, strong interpersonal relationships, group‐level phenomenon, safe work environment for taking interpersonal risks and non‐punitive culture. The antecedents included structure/system factors, interpersonal factors and individual factors. The four consequences included performance outcomes, organizational culture outcomes, and psychological and behavioural outcomes.