Maintaining Confidentiality and Psychological Safety in Medical Simulation

The Psychological safety of the participants is vital for maximum engagement and learning in medical simulation. Although research is limited on the components that increase the likelihood that a participant feels safe, there is at least general agreement among simulation experts on practices that facilitators can employ to support the creation and maintenance of psychological safety. This article reviews the components and practices that contribute to psychological safety in medical simulation. One such critical element is confidentiality regarding the performance of individual learners outside of the simulation exercise. The practice of establishing a confidentiality agreement helps to build trust between participants and with the facilitator. This shared agreement among participants and the facilitator is one of the methods that help establish and maintain a psychologically safe environment for risk-taking. When the participant feels psychologically safe, they are more likely to adopt behaviors that enhance learning, such as willingness to practice at the edge of their abilities, sharing their thought process, and discussing and learning from mistakes. In this article, we are also going to discuss, how to identify the breaches in psychological safety and strategies to establish a safe environment during debriefing.