Understanding whistleblowing: qualitative insights from nurse whistleblowers

Abstract

The whistleblowing nurses believed they were acting in accordance with a duty of care. There is a need for greater clarity about the role nurses have as patient advocates. Furthermore, there is need to develop clear guidelines that create opportunities for nurses to voice concerns and to ensure that healthcare systems respond in a timely and appropriate manner, and a need to foster a safe environment in which to raise issues of concern.

Whistleblowing Need not Occur if Internal Voices Are Heard: From Deaf Effect to Hearer Courage Comment on "Cultures of Silence and Cultures of Voice: The Role of Whistleblowing in Healthcare Organisations"

“…Research into the reasons why healthcare professionals, in this case nurses, are reluctant to report malpractice have been linked to both apathy, tied to an assumption that no action will be taken, and fear of retribution to their professional standing or personal lives, which have included both negative physical and emotional affects. 27,30,[32][33][34] In a recent UK National Health Service (NHS) survey of more than 2000 managers and clinicians a disparity of opinion emerged on the 'culture of voice. ' Here, staff were invited to report on the quality of leadership, transparency, and whistleblowing.…”

“…Personal and professional retaliation against whistleblowers has been wellrecognised and involves damaging processes that attempt to deal with the disclosure by discrediting the whistleblower rather than dealing with the information disclosed. [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Mannion and Davies 1 like others have posed the argument that whistleblowing need not occur if those responsible in an organisations respond positively to concerns raised and begin a process of learning from mistakes as well as implementing effective policies to prevent future harm. However, to achieve this there needs to be a recognition that a culture of silence will remain in health services if the following dual processes continue to occur when staff raise concerns internally.…”

Consideraciones éticas en la gestión enfermera: una revisión actual

“…Los estudios acerca de este fenómeno describen que es habitual que la persona que realiza este tipo de denuncias cívicas suele recibir una respuesta contundente, a veces agresiva, por parte de la empresa, que puede acabar con su despido o suspensión 41 .…”

“…Durante las dos últimas décadas, este fenómeno ha sido objeto de estudio en la disciplina enfermera, especialmente en los países anglosajones [39][40][41] .…”

“…La presunción de buena fe y de defensa del interés público del denunciante, la demostración fáctica de los hechos, el clima relacional alrededor del denunciante, del denunciado y del resto de miembros del equipo, la defensa del tercero, su conocimiento o su percepción de la situación, la vulnerabilidad de los implicados, la política empresarial sobre el abordaje de los casos de Whistleblowing, las consecuencias sobre profesionales, pacientes y empresa, son elementos necesarios a considerar [39][40][41] .…”