Being mindful in your practice

As physician practices function to deliver safe and low-risk patient care, they often are susceptible to unexpected events for which the consequences can be high. By acting mindfully, physicians can focus on better managing unexpected events as well as decreasing the risk of such an event. There are five main components of mindfulness that can be implemented within your practice to gain a deeper understanding of your own systems in order to become a safer practice: sensitivity to operations; reluctance to simplify; preoccupation with failure; deference to expertise; and commitment to resilience. Each component is critical in the prevention of both unexpected events and complacency.