Facilitator experiences of providing feedback of large quality and safety datasets to staff: A qualitative study

Background

Positive safety cultures are imperative for patient and staff outcomes. For transformation to occur in healthcare safety cultures, data should be collected at clinical, professional, and system levels and staff provided with the opportunity to review and take action. Feedback of such data, specifically large datasets, can be both difficult and confronting for those giving and receiving the information. As such, facilitation is a critical element of the feedback process that can ensure context is understood by those receiving feedback, strengths of the findings are outlined, and actions are forthcoming in response to the data.

Aim

To explore facilitator experiences, perceptions, and strategies employed when delivering feedback of large safety culture datasets to teams in a Local Health District in NSW Australia.

Methods

An exploratory descriptive qualitative approach utilising thematic analysis.

Findings

Three themes relating to the purpose, processes, and outcomes of facilitated feedback.

Discussion

Exploration of the themes demonstrated that when feedback is delivered by skilled facilitators in person-centred ways, reflection and understanding data are encouraged and skills developed in others.

Conclusion

Facilitation promoted positive action by healthcare staff in response to their findings, and the process of feedback resulted in enhanced expertise for facilitators.