A systematic review of workplace triggers of emotions in the healthcare environment, the emotions experienced, and the impact on patient safety (9 May 2024)

Summary

Healthcare staff deliver patient care in emotionally charged settings and experience a wide range of emotions as part of their work. These emotions and emotional contexts can impact the quality and safety of care. Despite the growing acknowledgement of the important role of emotion, we know very little about what triggers emotion within healthcare environments or the impact this has on patient safety.

This systematic review explored the workplace triggers of emotions within the healthcare environment, the emotions experienced in response to these triggers, and the impact of triggers and emotions on patient safety.

The various triggers of emotion and the types of emotion experienced that have been identified in this review can be used as a framework for further work examining the role of emotion in patient safety. The findings from this review suggest that certain types of emotions (including fear, anger, and guilt) were more frequently experienced in response to particular categories of triggers and that healthcare staff's experiences of negative emotions can have negative effects on patient care, and ultimately, patient safety. This provides a basis for developing and tailoring strategies, interventions, and support mechanisms for dealing with and regulating emotions in the healthcare work environment.