Perceived Safety Conditions and Self-Management: How Do They Associate With Stress of Conscience Among Nurses and Other Healthcare Workers?

Abstract

Aims

To investigate how team psychological safety and organisational psychosocial safety climate associate with self-management and hindrance- and violation-related stress of conscience among nurses and other healthcare workers.

Design

A longitudinal survey study with two data points.

Methods

Healthcare personnel (n = 241, 40% nurses) rated perceived safety in 2021, possibilities to self-manage their work in 2023, and stress of conscience in 2021 and 2023.

Results

Team psychological safety and organisational psychosocial safety climate positively predicted self-management of executing work, whereas only the organisational part predicted self-management of leading work. Unexpectedly, self-management of leading one's work was positively associated with hindrance-related stress of conscience.

Conclusion

When employees feel safe to take interpersonal risks in their team and have possibilities to prioritise their work goals and influence the ways work performance is measured, it can increase, rather than reduce, feelings of not being able to act according to what the employee sees as morally right.

Implications for the Profession and/or Patient Care

Providing adequate resources to meet the insights arising from a psychologically safe work team seem to be especially important for nurses.

Impact

Healthcare employees need possibilities to actualize and follow through the insights that can emerge from having high psychological safety and high opportunities for self-management.

Reporting Method

The STROBE checklist.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.