Videos of senior physicians discussing assertiveness skills helped shift attitudes of junior physicians about speaking up to superiors, but more work is needed to encourage interns to report safety concerns, according to a study in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.
University Hospital Galway, an academic teaching hospital affiliated with the National University of Ireland, Galway, designed, conducted and evaluated a program to train interns to speak up to attendings or consultant physicians in January 2012 to March 2012 and November 2012 to January 2013.
The training, based on the crew resource management model, included filmed stories of attending physicians discussing assertiveness challenges when they were interns and what they could have improved. The 110 interns who participated in the training gave positive feedback and increased their knowledge. There was also some evidence of more positive attitudes toward speaking up to seniors. However, there was no effect of the training on behavior.
The authors concluded that a sustained change in attitudes and behavior around speaking up will require practice in addition to training to develop assertiveness skills.
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