title: The role of emotion in patient safety: Are we brave enough to scratch beneath the surface?
abstract: Healthcare professionals work in emotionally charged settings; yet, little is known about the role of emotion in ensuring safe patient care. This article presents current knowledge in this field, drawing upon psychological approaches and evidence from clinical settings. We explore the emotions that health professionals experience in relation to making a medical error and describe the impact on healthcare professionals and on their professional and patient relationships. We also explore how positive and negative emotions can contribute to clinical decision making and affect responses to clinical situations. Evidence to date suggests that emotion plays an integral role in patient safety. Implications for training, practice and research are discussed in addition to strategies to facilitate health services to understand and respond to the influence of emotion in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Quality and Safety Research Group, Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK Jane.Heyhoe@bthft.nhs.uk.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heyhoe
authors.affiliation: Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Birks
authors.affiliation: Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Reema
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: Leeds Institute for Medical Education, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9NL, UK.
authors.forename: Jane K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: O'Hara
authors.affiliation: Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds LS14 6UH, UK.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cracknell
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9NL, UK Quality and Safety Research Group, Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford BD9 6RJ, UK.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lawton
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D000066491:Clinical Decision-Making; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors; D061214:Patient Safety; D010551:Personality; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations
keywords: Emotion; clinical decision-making; impact of error; medical error; patient safety; personality