Instituting a culture of professionalism: the establishment of a Center for Professionalism and Peer Support.
This commentary describes the establishment of the Center for Professionalism and Peer Support at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. The initiative aims to bolster safety culture by teaching professionalism, managing error disclosure, supporting wellness, and providing a program for second victims. The intervention has worked to remediate unprofessional behavior in more than 200 cases, suggesting that a structured and staffed initiative can support the development of a safety culture. An accompanying editorial outlines five critical aspects of the program: leadership commitment, institutional champions, non-punitive reporting, a structured intervention model, and shared understanding of definitions, policies and procedures, and goals. A prior AHRQ WebM&M commentary also discusses the role of professionalism in safety.