Strategies for Enhancing Perioperative Safety: Promoting Joy and Meaning in the Workforce

Workforce safety is a precondition of patient safety, and safety from both physical and psychological harm in the workplace is the foundation for an environment in which joy and meaning can exist. Achieving joy and meaning in the workplace allows health care workers to continuously improve the care they provide. This requires an environment in which disrespectful and harmful behaviors are not tolerated or ignored. Health care leaders have an obligation to create workplace cultures that are characterized by respect, transparency, accountability, learning, and quality care. Evidence suggests, however, that health care settings are rife with disrespectful behavior, poor teamwork, and unsafe working conditions. Solutions for addressing workplace safety problems include defining core values, tasking leaders to act as role models, and committing to becoming a high-reliability organization.