Promoting health care safety through training high reliability teams

    Authors

    K. A. Wilson; C. S. Burke; H. A. Priest;E. Salas

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Qual. Saf. Health Care

    Keywords

    PERFORMANCE; ORGANIZATIONS; AVIATION; LESSONS; IMPACT; ERROR; MANAGEMENT; TEAMWORK; SYSTEMS; Health Care Sciences & Services

    Abstract

    Many organizations have been using teams as a means of achieving organizational outcomes ( such as productivity and safety). Research has indicated that teams, especially those operating in complex environments, are not always effective. There is a subset of organizations in which teams operate that are able to balance effectiveness and safety despite the complexities of the environment ( for example, aviation, nuclear power). These high reliability organizations (HROs) have begun to be examined as a model for those in other complex domains, such as health care, that strive to reach a status of high reliability. In this paper we analyse the components leading to the effectiveness of HROs by examining the teams that comprise them. We use a systems perspective to uncover the behavioral markers by which high reliability teams (HRTs) are able to uphold the values of their parent organizations, thereby promoting safety. Using these markers, we offer guidelines and developmental strategies that will help the healthcare community to shift more quickly to high reliability status by not focusing solely on the organizational level.

    Journal Title

    Quality & Safety in Health Care

    Volume

    14

    Issue/Number

    4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2005

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    303

    Last Page

    309

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000230896000015

    ISSN

    1475-3898

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