‘Just Culture’ in the workplace

In health care, cultivating an environment of trust and transparency is essential to safeguard patients.

By: Laura Castro

In health care, cultivating an environment of trust and transparency is essential to safeguard patients and ensure high reliability. Now, UF Health Shands is initiating training for managers and physician clinical leaders to foster an even stronger culture of safety and high-quality care.

The Just Culture method uses a step-by-step procedure to manage organizational risks and prevent adverse outcomes. The model requires managers to examine the facts of an event without allowing the severity of the outcome to influence their decision as to how to address the situation and those involved.

By creating a consistently fair and just environment, staff members learn to trust that their event reporting leads to earnest investigations into faulty health care systems. Staff members will become even more engaged in process improvement efforts and have a greater confidence that patient safety is improving across the organization.