Introduction
Healthcare is a field that depends on humans every hour of the processes, and it is inevitable that mistakes will occur and cause adverse consequences. The outdated approach to preventing errors focused on punishing those who made them but did not address the problem because people still had to function within the systems designed by a healthcare organization.
Discussion
Therefore, there is a high need to reach a balance between one extreme, which is excessive punishment, and another extreme, which is a blameless culture that lacks accountability. Through the implementation of a just culture, it is possible to establish open and honest reporting of any issues and challenges in the healthcare context with the purpose of facilitating a quality culture and a positive learning environment.
The just culture approach can be strengthened with contributions from other fields, including economics, organizational change, leadership, and systems science. From the economics perspective, the supply and demand theory, which is imperative for stimulating the economy, could be transferred to the just theory approach. The theory suggests that if demand exceeds the supply of products, their prices will increase (Perkis, 2021). If healthcare workers are viewed as finite resources, and their number rarely meets the demand, they will be more valued and thus not punished for mistakes but instead nurtured and provided with a positive work environment.
When it comes to the organizational change perspective, the ADKAR change model could be applied as it intends to reduce employees’ resistance and increase the speed of implementation. Within the model, employees are put at the forefront while their contributions are valued and their needs are met and supported. It calls for opening a conversation with workers about the need for change and convincing them of it rather than forcing the change upon them (van Baarle et al., 2022). This step is essential for increasing the desire of employees to participate in change implementation. From the leadership standpoint, transformational leadership appears to be the most suitable approach to integrating the just culture in the healthcare context. It entails envisioning the desired outcomes and proceeding to implement steps based on health outcome data and inputs from staff, patients, and the community. The transformational approach to leadership allows for building positive relationships between healthcare personnel and their leaders to collaboratively assess challenges and form a collective vision that will help address them.
Systems science is an interdisciplinary field studying the complicated nature of systems in various fields, including healthcare. Through Goal Attainment Theory, which reflects the interplay between systems procedures and results, it is possible to establish a framework for information collection (Park, 2021). It will help effectively assess the performance of employees and facilitate clear communication to optimize it and facilitate increase increased accountability. Social systems play a crucial role in enhancing communication patterns within a healthcare facility to improve patient care quality and reduce the occurrence of mistakes both long- and short-term.
Conclusion
To conclude, the just culture intends to balance the need for transparent reporting with the end of a quality culture within a healthcare organization. The application of economic, leadership, organizational change, and systems science approaches can enhance the capability of a healthcare organization to respond to mistakes adequately and develop mechanisms for their prevention. Collaborative work is the focus of each approach due to the need to ensure that there is a positive environment in which employees and their leadership can operate.
References
Park B. M. (2021). Effects of nurse-led intervention programs based on goal attainment theory: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 9(6), 699. Web.
Perkis, D. (2021). The science of supply and demand. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Web.
van Baarle, E., Hartman, L., Rooijakkers, S., Wallenburg, I., Weenink, J-W., Bal, R., & Widdershoven, G. (2022). Fostering a just culture in healthcare organizations: Experiences in practice. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1035). Web.