ArticleJournal of health organization and management2021
"I feel I have no voice": hospital doctors' workplace silence in Ireland.
Article in Journal of health organization and management, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Classification of influencing factors of speaking-up behaviour in hospitals: a systematic review.BMC health services research · 2024Pooled it
- The Relationship between Negative Leadership Behaviours and Silence among Nurses.Journal of nursing management · 2024Pooled it
- 'If You Don't Speak Up, It Will Eat You Up': A Critical Discourse Analysis of Voice and Silence in a Multicultural Clinical Healthcare System.Nursing inquiry · 2026Article
- Conceptualising doctors' and nurses' experience of formal and informal solidarity: A Meta-Ethnography Protocol.HRB open research · 2025Article
- Why Talking Is Not Cheap: Adverse Events and Informal Communication.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Exit, voice or neglect: Understanding the choices faced by doctors experiencing barriers to leading health system change through the case of Sierra Leone.SSM. Qualitative research in health · 2022Article
- 'Today Was Probably One of the Most Challenging Workdays I've Ever Had': Doing Remote Qualitative Research with Hospital Doctors During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Qualitative health research · 2022Article
- A catalyst for change: Developing a collaborative reflexive ethnographic approach to research with hospital doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methodological innovations · 2022Article
- How Did the Pandemic Affect Communication in Clinical Settings? A Qualitative Study with Critical and Emergency Care Nurses.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Understanding the Link Between Burnout and Sub-Optimal Care: Why Should Healthcare Education Be Interested in Employee Silence?Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeWorkplace silence impedes productivity, job satisfaction and retention, key issues for the hospital workforce worldwide. It can have a negative effect on patient outcomes and safety and human resources in healthcare organisations. This study aims to examine factors that influence workplace silence among hospital doctors in Ireland. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A national, cross-sectional, online survey of hospital doctors in Ireland was conducted in October-November 2019; 1,070 hospital doctors responded. This paper focuses on responses to the question "If you had concerns about your working conditions, would you raise them?". In total, 227 hospital doctor respondents (25%) stated that they would not raise concerns about their working conditions. Qualitative thematic analysis was carried out on free-text responses to explore why these doctors choose to opt for silence regarding their working conditions.
findingsReputational risk, lack of energy and time, a perceived inability to effect change and cultural norms all discourage doctors from raising concerns about working conditions. Apathy arose as change to working conditions was perceived as highly unlikely. In turn, this had scope to lead to neglect and exit. Voice was seen as risky for some respondents, who feared that complaining could damage their career prospects and workplace relationships. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This study highlights the systemic, cultural and practical issues that pressure hospital doctors in Ireland to opt for silence around working conditions. It adds to the literature on workplace silence and voice within the medical profession and provides a framework for comparative analysis of doctors' silence and voice in other settings.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.