Historically, healthcare has accepted a culture of individual blame and punishment following an adverse event. Blame leads to under-reporting of errors due to the fear of reprisal. Consequently, under-reporting results in missed opportunities for nursing leaders to recognize and improve system breakdowns in mitigating recurrence. A quality improvement effort targeting staff's fear of reporting was launched to improve the culture of safety.
Author Affiliation: Donna Copeland, Assistant Professor, Adult Health Department, University of South Alabama College of Nursing, Mobile, AL and Inservice Specialist, USA Children's and Women's Hospital, Mobile, AL.
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Correspondence: Donna Copeland, University of South Alabama, College of Nursing, 5721 USA Drive N., HAHN 4076, Mobile, AL 36688-0002 (dcopeland@southalabama.edu).
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