It is well known that a sure guarantor of the effectiveness of any specialist’s professional activities is the presence of a safe working environment. That is why the problem of creating safe conditions for both the patient and the medical staff is relevant to modern medicine. Among the aggressive factors of the hospital environment, noted by the World Health Organization, is the psycho-emotional factor (Newman et al., 2017). Psychologically dangerous working conditions affect the health and mental well-being of participants in the labor process. The psychological safety of work activity is a situation in which the employee is not in danger, leading to psychotraumatization (Newman et al., 2017). Among the psychological hazards that affect the medical staff is a large number of contact with sick people and their relatives, constant communication with other people’s problems, and other people’s pain, death, and suffering. Also, the influencing factors include increased requirements for a health worker’s professional competence and responsibility for other people’s life and health.
These factors lead healthcare workers to feel frazzled, depleted and emotionally drained. Recently, this condition has received the term – emotional or professional burnout syndrome (O’Donovan & McAuliffe, 2020). Most often, burnout is seen as a reaction to long-term professional stress of medium intensity. Burnout has severe consequences for modern society, as the health of workers, their families, and the effectiveness of their professional activities are significantly damaged. To counter burnout, it is necessary to determine the causes and consequences of stress, the psychophysiology of stress, and the risk factors leading to burnout in medical workers. To initiate the creation of an atmosphere of psychological safety in the team is the responsibility and task of the leader. Usually, in organizations, there are many stories about how someone seriously paid for an unnecessary initiative, complaint, or violation of subordination, so employees often prefer to remain silent once again (O’Donovan & McAuliffe, 2020). These attitudes have long existed and are deeply rooted; therefore, to turn the tide, it is not enough to declare an open-door policy; active efforts are needed to change the psychological environment.
Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School and one of the first researchers on psychological safety in the work environment, recommends the following measures. Prepare the ground by explaining to employees why you want to hear their opinion and why it is essential for the team (Edmondson, 2019). Difficulties are inevitable, and that is why the employee needs feedback on the most challenging problems and the contribution of everyone’s point of view to understanding the big picture. Actively invite employees to participate in the discussion; address people by name, ask them specific questions, be interested, and listen carefully (Edmondson, 2019). The ultimate goal is to create conditions where it will be more difficult to remain silent than speak out.
Psychological security means that employees are not afraid to appear to each other as vulnerable and mistake people for their weaknesses and shortcomings. The leader should be the first to set an example of behavior conducive to open and sincere communication. They must have the humility to admit that they have a lot to learn, do not have all the answers, and make mistakes and face difficulties. They must publicly admit their shortcomings and try to work on them. They show their subordinates that they expect not perfection but a willingness to take risks, make mistakes and learn from their mistakes, and they are open to feedback and constructive criticism.
References
Edmondson, A. C. (2019). The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the workplace for learning, Innovation, and growth. John Wiley & Sons.
Newman, A., Donohue, R., & Eva, N. (2017). Psychological safety: A systematic review of the literature. Human Resource Management Review, 27(3), 521–535. Web.
O’Donovan, R., & McAuliffe, E. (2020). A systematic review of factors that enable psychological safety in healthcare teams. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 32(4), 240–250. Web.