Culture drives quality—if an organization does not have a culture in which they hold themselves and others accountable, it is probable that it will not achieve and sustain high-level quality outcomes. Patient safety is defined as freedom from accidental injury; you have seen how medical errors are harmful, and that there are second victims that suffer as well. Remember quality can be defined as “the cumulative impact of all that happens to a patient while in an organization’s care” (Porter, 2012, p. 193).

A Just Culture gives organizations a template to uniformly address the shortcomings or errors of those who fail. It addresses failures in four different areas, which include 1) human errors and mistakes, meaning unintentional harm; 2) carelessness or at-risk behavior—or not paying attention that results in an error; 3) recklessness or a flagrant disregard for norms where an error occurs unintentionally, but because of recklessness; and 4) those who just do not pay attention and have no regard for authority.

In this Discussion, you will identify a model that a health care organization might use to improve their culture of quality and describe whether the ethical theory of Just Culture would improve the quality and why.

To prepare:

Review Learning Resources on culture and patient safety.