"... a very strong tendency for nurses to overlook a serious mistake by a close peer who had a reputation of being a "competent" nurse"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23833888

Psychol Rep. 2013 Apr;112(2):626-36.

Reasons registered nurses report serious wrongdoings in a public teaching hospital.

King G 3rd, Scudder JN.

Source

Department of Communication Studies, Indiana University Southeast, 4201 Grant Line Road, New Albany, IN 47150, USA. gkingiii@ius.edu

Abstract

This study examined reasons a registered nurse would report a wrongdoing within a public teaching hospital. Of a group of 238 initial respondents, 30% reported they had observed a wrongdoing in the past year, with 68 nurses indicating they had reported a wrongdoing in the past year. The latter group was the focus of this study. They indicated through a self-report survey that incidents threatening the well-being of patients and their professional ethics were more likely to be reported within their organizations. Observer anonymity was perceived to have a small, but important effect on nurses reporting a wrongdoing in this sample. A manipulation check of the initial 238 respondents revealed a very strong tendency for nurses to overlook a serious mistake by a close peer who had a reputation of being a "competent" nurse.