Speaking up in healthcare

Speaking up in healthcare

Dutch Principal Investigator: Dimmy van Dongen 
Planned period: January 2023 – December 2023 

Project summary: To improve the safety and quality of care, it is important that all healthcare professionals can speak up about problems and suggestions. However, this does not always happen. During this project we study which factors contribute to whether healthcare professionals speak up or not and which role the receiving party has.

About the project

During this project, we study various factors that influence speaking up behaviour of healthcare professionals and the role of the receiving party. We investigate two different situations in two different hospitals where multiple disciplines are present, such as multidisciplinary consultation and patient transfer from the ICU to the nursing ward. The first goal of this research is to better understand the concept of 'speaking up'. Why does someone speak up or remain silent? What is the role of the receiving party? What should change so that healthcare professionals can speak up more easily? Secondly, this research serves as the basis for an intervention to improve speaking up and safety listening behaviour of healthcare professionals. The ultimate goal is to improve the safety and quality of care, but also to contribute to the job satisfaction of healthcare professionals.

This question is a recurring theme within collaborative projects and thus explored in interaction with several colleagues in our faculty, including theoretical experts from the Ethics & Philosophy section.