Section: Applying CUSP to MRSA and SSI Prevention
Psychological safety is defined as the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes and that the team is a safe environment for interpersonal risk taking. Amy Edmondson articulated this definition in the early 1990s to describe an environment in which members feel respected and acknowledged for speaking up about issues in the workspace without being reprimanded, labeled, or punished.
Any time a person speaks up about something, there is a potential for conflict, and negative consequences may arise toward the person who spoke up or others. Psychological safety reflects the shared belief among team members that the space or work environment is safe for open dialogue about difficult situations or processes of care.
Presentations
Presentation: Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP): Psychological Safety
After reviewing the content of this presentation, viewers will be able to—
- Define psychological safety​
- Explain the importance of a psychologically safe environment for quality improvement projects​
- Describe core attributes of psychological safety​
- Identify barriers and facilitators that impact psychological safety​
- Describe steps to create and implement a psychologically safe environment
Documents:
- CUSP: Psychological Safety – Slides (PPTX, 3 MB)
- CUSP: Psychological Safety – Facilitator Guide (DOCX, 4 MB)
Tools and Resources
Learn About CUSP (Core CUSP Toolkit)
To learn about this subject in more detail, follow this link to the Learn About CUSP topic of the Core CUSP Toolkit.
