Improved Hospital Employee Satisfaction Improves Patient Safety

A new study shows that improved staff communication and engagement may lead to improved safety and reduce the incidence of medical malpractice. According to data collected by a healthcare research group from more a dozen hospitals, when staff feel more engaged and positive about their employment circumstances, they perform better. This translates into better patient care and a reduced incidence of medical malpractice.

While many people think of medical malpractice as when doctors make mistakes, medical malpractice often occurs as the result of communication errors between doctors, nurses and hospital staff. This may include serious errors such as administering the wrong prescription or in the wrong amount, not properly advising new teams during shift changes of patient needs or concerns, and not acting with sufficient urgency when emergent situations arise. In general, when employees are dissatisfied or dislike their place of employment, communication suffers and results decline. The conclusions of this study indicate that the same occurs in the hospital setting. When staff does not have a good working relationship with the physicians and the hospital, the incidence of medical malpractice increases.

The study’s authors suggest addressing workplace concerns as one step in improving patient safety.