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Table 7 Final Composite Measure Integrating Survey and Observation Components

From: Measuring psychological safety in healthcare teams: developing an observational measure to complement survey methods

Measurement

Psychological Safety Towards Team Leader

Psychological Safety Towards Other Team Members

Psychological Safety in Relation to Team as a Whole

Survey Results

Mean

s.d.

Mean

s.d.

Mean

s.d.

6.789

1.867

6.469

.986

5.987

.876

Total Observed Behaviours Displayed by:

Team Members

Team Leader

Team Members

Team Leader

Team Members

Voice Behaviours

15

27

10

29

3

 Communicating opinions to others even if they disagree

2

5

2

5

 

 Asking questions

5

3

5

10

 

 Providing information

5

10

 

5

2

 Providing feedback

3

3

2

6

1

 Providing help or solutions

 

5

 

3

 

 Correcting others

 

2

1

  

Defensive Voice Behaviours

2

2

3

1

 

 Denying faults or blame others

  

2

  

 Showing aggression

  

1

  

 Evading confrontation by focusing only on positives

2

2

 

1

 

Silence Behaviours

3

 

2

 

5

 Facial expression or body language indicates fear

     

 Facial expression or body language indicates disengagement

3

   

2

 Closed body language

  

2

 

3

Supportive Behaviours

10

19

7

17

1

 Sharing procedures, knowledge and experience

4

2

 

8

 

 Sharing future plans

2

3

 

2

 

 Active listening

     

 Use of inclusive language such as “we”

 

8

 

5

 

 Agreeing/Responding positively or enthusiastically to input

4

 

5

  

 Acknowledging achievements/ congratulating

  

2

2

1

 Delegating tasks

 

6

   

Unsupportive Behaviours

 

3

4

  

 Interrupting

 

3

   

 Discussions within small sub-groups

  

4

  

 Reacting cold/ignoring a joke

     

Learning or Improvement Oriented Behaviours

5

5

2

15

2

 Reviewing own progress and performance

 

2

 

7

 

 Asking for feedback

2

    

 Asking for help or solutions

1

3

   

 Asking for input from all meeting participants

  

2

8

1

 Informing the team about issues or mistakes related to patient safety or staff safety

    

1

 Looking for improvement opportunities and speaking up with ideas

2

    

 Acknowledging own mistake

     

Familiarity Behaviours

3

4

11

3

3

 Talking about personal, non-work matters

 

1

6

  

 Laughing about a joke

3

3

5

3

3

Total Observed Behaviour

     

 Categories indicating high psychological safety:

(voice behaviours, supportive behaviours, learning or improvement behaviour and familiarity behaviours)

33

55

30

64

9

 Categories indicating lower psychological safety:

(defensive voice behaviours, silence behaviours and unsupportive behaviours).

5

5

9

1

5