Workplace errors and negative knowledge in elder care nursing

Abstract

Expert professionals excel in their domains not only because of their superior knowledge about how to proceed to attain goals, but also because of their experiential knowledge about what may endanger the attainment of a goal and should therefore be avoided. This negative knowledge is researched here by means of a case study with practitioners in elder care nursing. It explores (1) what forms of workplace errors negative knowledge is related to, and (2) draws conclusions on error-producing conditions at the participants' workplaces. The results indicate that negative knowledge mainly, but not exclusively, relates to knowledge- and rule-based errors. Moreover, it provides insights into underlying tensions at the elder care nurses' workplaces, such as the requirement to make the residents follow medical suggestions, while also respecting their biography and autonomy. With regard to its potential for better understanding the competence of professionals to avoid errors, it is concluded that the concept of negative knowledge should more purposefully be developed at the individual and the organizational level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)