Culture of Psychological Safety in the Emergency Department: Don’t Forget the Hidden Curriculum

Psychological Safety (PS) is, simply put, about being comfortable in your workplace and knowing that the things you say and do will not be used against you as long as you are not being malicious. Whilst there is the generic definition, some degree of customization will be required for specific industries or workplaces. In this paper, PS is discussed in the context of the Emergency Department; with its hectic, fast-paced environment for the management of acute medical and surgical conditions, as well as the embedded learning and learning ‘on the fly’. It requires a very conscious understanding and approach to ensure all the four stages of PS (inclusivity, learning PS, contributor PS and challenger PS) is practiced.

This is also one of the few papers that discusses the integration and interdependence of PS with the “hidden curriculum”, which refers to the unwritten norms, values, behavior and (verbal and non-verbal) communications. The unique issue of PS in the context of Asia is also highlighted.

Keywords: psychological safety, learning, hidden curriculum, psychological capital.