Harvard study shows patients reluctant to voice concerns to providers

The survey of current or past ICU patients showed that very few patients or family members are voicing their concerns during care encounters. Between 50% and 70% of respondents expressed hesitancy to voice concerns about possible mistakes, mismatched care goals, confusing/conflicting information and inadequate hand hygiene.
About half of respondents said they did not want to be perceived as a “troublemaker,” or that the team appeared too busy to hear a concern. Patients also said they did not know how to report a healthcare concern in this setting. Older, female participants and those with personal or family employment in healthcare were more likely to report comfort speaking up. The authors suggest that patient/family education about how to speak up and assurance that raising concerns will not create ‘trouble’ may help promote open discussions about care concerns and possible errors in the ICU.

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