'It depends': The complexity of allowing residents to fail from the perspective of clinical supervisors

Using Trainee Failures to Enhance Learning: A Qualitative Study of Pediatric Hospitalists on Allowing Failure

INTRODUCTION

Attendings allow trainee failure when perceived educational benefits outweigh potential patient harm. This strategy has not been explored in pediatrics, where it may be shaped by unique factors. Our objectives were to understand if, when, and how pediatric hospitalists allow trainees to fail during clinical encounters.

METHODS

Using constructivist grounded theory, we conducted semistructured interviews with 21 pediatric hospitalists from a children's hospital in the United States. Iterative, constant comparative analysis took place concurrent with data collection. During regular team meetings, we refined and grouped codes into larger themes.

RESULTS

Nineteen of the 21 participants shared that they intentionally allowed failure as a teaching strategy, acknowledging this strategy's emotional power and weighing the educational benefits against harms to current and future patients, caregivers, and trainees. Participants described a multistep process for allowing failure: 1) initiate an orientation to signal that they prioritize a psychologically safe learning environment; 2) consider factors which influence their decision to allow failure; and 3) debrief with trainees. However, participants did not explicitly alert trainees to this teaching strategy. They also avoided using the word "failure" during debriefs to protect trainees from psychological harm.

CONCLUSIONS

Most pediatric hospitalists in this study allowed failure for educational purposes. However, they did so cautiously, weighing the educational value of the failure against the safety of both current and future patients, the relationship with the caregivers, and the trainees' well-being. Future research should involve trainees to more comprehensively understand the experience and effectiveness of this teaching strategy.

Balancing closure and discovery: adaptive expertise in the workplace

Residents must develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes to handle a rapidly developing clinical environment. To address this need, adaptive expertise has been suggested as an important framework for health professions education. However, research has yet to explore the relationship between workplace learning and adaptive expertise. This study sought to investigate how clinical supervision might support the development of adaptive expertise. The present study used a focused ethnography in two emergency departments. We observed 75 supervising situations with the 27 residents resulting in 116 pages of field notes. The majority of supervision was provided by senior physicians, but also included other healthcare professionals. We found that supervision could serve two purposes: closure and discovery. Supervision aimed at discovery included practices that reflected instructional approaches said to promote adaptive expertise, such as productive struggle. Supervision aimed at closure-included practices with instructional approaches deemed important for efficient and safe patient care, such as verifying information. Our results suggest that supervision is a shared practice and responsibility. We argue that setting and aligning expectations before engaging in supervision is important. Furthermore, results demonstrated that supervision was a dynamic process, shifting between both orientations, and that supervision aimed at discovery could be an an appropriate mode of supervision, even in the most demanding clinical situations.