ABSTRACT
Psychological theories are among the most widely used in patient safety research, which is perhaps not surprising given that, ultimately, safety depends largely on the performance and behavior of those people (doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, and other health professionals) who provide care. This chapter will review two main psychological paradigms and how these apply to the study and prevention of medication error. To do this, we will go back in time and look at how contemporary thinking has developed from these two paradigms and the benets of uniting these to develop error-reduction strategies. First, we look at the discipline of cognitive psychology and how this has helped us better understand the reasons why we human beings do not always get it right. We will then explore the literature on understanding and predicting behavior, which offers an insight into why human beings do not always
Key Points ................................................................................................................ 73 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 73 The History of Individual Blame ............................................................................. 74 Cognitive Psychology and the Understanding of Error ........................................... 74 From Cognitive Psychology to a Model of Organizational Accidents .................... 75 Social Psychology and the Understanding of Behavior ........................................... 78 From Social Psychology to a Theory of Behavior Change ......................................80 Using Behavior Change Theory to Improve Medication Safety .............................. 82 Combining the Accident Causation and Behavior Change Models in Promoting Medication Safety ..................................................................................85 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................87
