Psychological Safety among Community Health Officers (CHOs) in Selected Districts of West Bengal and its Impact on the Profession
Abstract
Background: Psychological safety is particularly crucial, as it directly influences decision-making, error reporting, teamwork, and overall job performance. Community Health Officers (CHOs) play an essential role in India’s comprehensive primary healthcare system. Their ability to make decisions, minimize errors, and innovate is important to provide excellent patient care. The present study was adopted to assess psychological safety among CHOs and measure its impact on the profession. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional and quantitative study on 103 randomly selected female CHOs. Data pertaining to socio-demographics and attitude regarding psychological safety and its impact on profession were collected via interview using a validated, semi-structured questionnaire and tools. Results: The majority (77.67%) of participants were 24-34 years old, unmarried (65.05%), and passed the class-12th standard (85.44%). Two-thirds (66.99%) of the participants were GNM, and the rest were B.Sc. nurses, with 82.52% having 1–5 years of work experience. 15.53% of participants reported experiencing job-related stress. The majority (67.96%) of participants reported a moderate level of psychological safety, and 13.6% reported a high level of psychological safety. Most (64.08%) participants felt that psychological safety had an average positive impact on their profession. A strong (r = 0.93) positive correlation and significant (t = 25.44, p < 0.05) relationship was found between psychological safety and its impact on profession among CHOs. Age and experience of CHOs significantly associate with the level of impact of psychological safety on their profession. Conclusion: A significant association between psychological safety and its impact on the profession exists, and healthcare administrators should implement targeted strategies to strengthen psychological safety in primary healthcare settings.