ArticleThe Practicality of Employee Empowerment Supporting a Psychologically Safe CultureValadares, Kevin J. PhDAuthor Information From the University of Southern Indiana, Evansville. Corresponding author: Kevin J. Valadares, PhD, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, IN 47712 (e-mail: [email protected]). The Health Care Manager: July/September 2004 - Volume 23 - Issue 3 - p 220-224 Buy Abstract In times of workforce shortages and increasing pressures to compete, health care organizations need to advance and ameliorate their resources to ensure organizational success. Other industries have maximized empowerment initiatives as a strategy to retain and develop employees as primary stakeholders of its mission. While the notion of employee empowerment is by itself noble, for it to succeed, health care organizations must promote a culture of psychological safety to ensure a genuine commitment exists to its mission and strategies. © 2004 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.