Psychological safety, communication openness, nurse job outcomes, and patient safety in hospital nurses

Abstract

Promoting psychological safety in a workplace is known to contribute to improved job outcomes across a wide variety of industries. This study aimed to examine the relationships between psychological safety at work and job outcomes (i.e., job satisfaction and intention to leave), and patient safety among hospital nurses; and to determine the mediating effect of communication openness on these relationships. This cross-sectional study used survey data from 867 hospital nurses working in the United States. Multiple logistic regression models and Hayes' PROCESS macro in SPSS were used. Nurses who worked in an environment with higher psychological safety levels were more likely to be satisfied in their current job, less likely to intend to leave their current job within the next year, and more likely to report favorable patient safety ratings. Communication openness mediated these relationships. When nurses feel psychologically safe at work, they are more likely to engage in open communication, which in turn can lead to greater job satisfaction, decreased turnover intention, and improved patient safety. Nurse managers should strive to develop leadership strategies that promote psychological safety in the work environment and support open communication among nurses.