Key tips to providing a psychologically safe learning environment in the clinical setting

Abstract

Having psychological safety embedded in preceptorship relationships facilitates positive interpersonal and educational experiences for students. Psychological safety refers to a student’s belief as to whether or not it is safe for them to take interpersonal risks, such as asking questions, sharing an idea for improvement or speaking up to maintain patient safety. Having psychological safety leads to collaboration, positive student learning experiences and effective patient care. In this article, we present key guidelines for preceptors to provide a psychologically safe learning environment for their students. Guidelines fall under four categories 1)before meeting students, 2)first meeting students, 3) continued relationship with students and 4) general rules. These guidelines are informed by current literature on psychological safety and preceptorship and the author's clinical expertise in a nursing preceptorship. We conceptualise psychological safety in a nursing preceptorship for preceptors to denote the experience of inclusivity, empowerment and well-being of students within the social, cultural and physical clinical learning environment. A crucial attribute to cultivating a psychologically safe environment involves being an accessible and approachable preceptor.

A systematic review of gamification in organizational learning

“…The importance of a safe learning environment (Thompson & Brown, 2021) is that it provides an optimized interaction among the employees. Hence, it can have tremendous effects on performance (Hardie, O'Donovan, Jarvis, & Redmond, 2022). In this regard, all employees should feel that the learning environment is safe for them.…”