For this study, researchers administered surveys to medical and surgical residents at Boston Medical Center in 2005. The survey asked residents to describe their worst medical errors and working environment, such as safety culture and management’s commitment to safety, to determine whether it promoted learning from those mistakes. A total of 97 surveys were included for analysis.
The researchers found while 31 percent of residents apologized for the error, only 17 percent disclosed the error to the patient and/or the family. Further analysis showed male residents were more likely to disclose errors than females. Perhaps most notably, higher medical culture scores were positively associated with medical error disclosure and apology.
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