Positioning humility within healthcare delivery - From doctors’ and nurses’ perspectives

Objective: Explore the roles of humility in healthcare delivery from perspectives of active doctors and nurses. Background: Although the concept of humility has gained attention in the healthcare and health professions education fields, previous literature has primarily been anecdotal reflections or conceptual explorations, leaving a gap of empirical approaches to what humility “looks like” in healthcare. Methods: Three hundred and five active U.S.-based doctors and nurses completed a survey containing close- and open-ended questions examining their experiences with and perceptions of humility in the clinical care setting. Results: The findings from this study echo previous literature touting the value of humility in regard to patient care, but also spotlight the connections between humility and status, how humility acts as a leveling mechanism, and humility's roles regarding facilitating collaborative, team-based care. We also find evidence of the effects of intellectual humility, as well as the tenets of the professional humility concept. Conclusion: According to doctors and nurses, humility is essential to high quality team-based, patient-centered care, but there is an explicit connection between humility and status – specifically related to the occupational status embedded within healthcare delivery. Future research should investigate not only how humility may facilitate interprofessionalism, but also the roles and impact of humility regarding uncertainty, and the processes related to feedback and decision making.