Perceived Barriers of Incident Reporting Among Internists: Results from Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar

Background Adverse events (AE) are responsible for annual deaths that exceed deaths due to motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, and AIDS. Many AE are considered preventable. Thus, AE needs to be detected and analyzed. Incident reporting systems (IRS) are crucial in identifying AE. Nevertheless, the incident report (IR) process is flawed with underreporting, especially from the physicians' side. This limits its efficiency in detecting AE. Therefore, we aimed to assess the practice and identify the barriers associated with incident reporting among internal medicine physicians in a large tertiary hospital through a survey. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study. We distributed an online survey to physicians working in the Internal Medicine Department of Qatar's largest tertiary academic institute. The questionnaire was validated and piloted ahead of the start of the trial. The response rate was 53%. Results A total of 115 physicians completed the survey; 59% acknowledged the availability of an institutional IRS. However, only 29% knew how to submit an online IR, and 20% have ever submitted an IR. The survey revealed that participants were less likely to submit an IR when they or a colleague is involved in the incident; 46% and 63%, respectively. The main barriers of reporting incidents were unawareness about the IRS (36%) and the perception that IR will not bring a system change (13%); moreover, there exists the fear of retaliation (13%). When asked about solutions, 57% recommended training and awareness, and 22% recommended sharing learnings and actions from previous IR. Conclusions IRS is underutilized by internal medicine physicians. The main barrier at the time of the survey is the lack of training and awareness. Promoting awareness and sharing previous learning and actions may improve the utilization of the IRS.

POSSIBILITY TO CORRECT THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN INDONESIAN LAW: COMPARISON BETWEEN SINGAPORE LAW AND INDONESIAN LAW ON BROADCASTING

Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. This principle is one of the Human Rights principles that are necessary for the progress of humanity itself. But its existence has always triggered a dispute because of the abuse of the right. The abuse of the rights consists of Hate Speech and Hoaxes. This research is normative legal research that uses a comparative approach and conceptual approach. And also, this research will compare the Freedom of Speech and Broadcasting laws in Indonesia and Singapore, especially law in the broadcasting sector. Theoretically, the benefits of this research are to answer the problem of correcting Freedom of Speech, especially in broadcasting law. Practically, it is helpful for society to know much more about hate speech and hoaxes also the possibility to correct the broadcasting law in Indonesia based on the same regulation in Singapore.

Taking it outside: A study of legal contexts and external whistleblowing in China and India

Whistleblowing is regularly identified as corporate control mechanism to prevent and uncover fraud. We review and compare the legal situation for whistleblowers in the People’s Republic of China and India. In a survey of 942 employees from private companies in both countries, we take a look at the status quo of whistleblowing system implementation, explore preference of channels to disclose fraud or corruption, and analyze under which conditions and what kind of employees prefer external over internal whistleblowing. We find that provisions for mandatory whistleblowing systems can be found in the law of both countries. In China in particular, protection is scattered across many different laws in the private sector. Indian companies seem to have systems in place more often, although this difference becomes smaller the larger the company. The general preference of internal over external channels is similar across countries. Our regression models suggest that external channels are preferred over internal ones when fear of retaliatory measures is higher, the company is smaller, and the whistleblower is female. In line with prior literature, the effect of fear of retaliation is moderated by gender: women are less influenced by retaliation. All in all, implementation of whistleblowing systems seems ubiquitous in both countries; legal protection and comprehensive measures to decrease retaliation are lacking. Additional implications of findings are discussed.

Voice or silence: antecedents of whistleblowing intentions

Purpose This study aims to examine the effects of peer ethical behavior and individual differences in valuation of fairness vs loyalty on whistleblowing intentions in academic settings. This study also tests the underlying mechanism responsible for the effects of peer behavior on reporting intentions, namely, fear of reprisal. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted with 947 undergraduate students. The model was tested using ordinary least squares regression models followed by bootstrapped mediation analyses. Findings Results showed that the effects of peer ethical behavior on whistleblowing intentions are mediated by fear of retaliation. Moreover, the findings indicated that, for low-severity transgressions, there is an interactive effect between fear of retaliation and endorsement of fairness over loyalty on whistleblowing intentions. Research limitations/implications When the misconduct is seen as minor, a potential whistleblower may understand that the expected costs outweigh the possible benefits of blowing the whistle. In such situations, higher fear of retaliation would undermine the effects of individual’s endorsement of fairness over loyalty on reporting intentions. Practical implications As the social environment significantly affects someone’s whistleblowing intentions, there should be visible efforts to improve and to foster an ethical infrastructure in organizations. Social implications As fear of retaliation by peers is one of the most important determinants affecting the decision to report misconduct in general, there must be serious efforts from leaders to mitigate any threat of retaliation to those who come forward. Originality/value This work contributes to the discussion about individual and situational antecedents of whistleblowing. More importantly, it sheds light on one potential boundary condition for the influence of the fairness–loyalty tradeoff on whistleblowing decisions: severity of the transgression. The findings provide initial evidence that, for low-severity transgressions, fear of retaliation weakens the positive effects of one’s moral compass in terms of preference for fairness over loyalty on whistleblowing intentions.

Dealing With Sexual Harassment

In the Philippines, sexual harassment is among the threats and attacks women in media face. While Filipino women journalists experience being sexually harassed by colleagues and sources, several have opted not to report such incidents for fear of being blamed and fear of retaliation from the accused. This case study research documents six Filipino women journalists' experiences. Findings were analyzed using thematic analysis, guided by the framework of the spiral of silence theory by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann. The findings show that interviewees did not report sexual harassment and related issues because they perceived these cases as part of the reality of working in the news industry. Other factors for staying silent were uncertainties about how their employer will respond, the fear of losing sources, and the fear of being isolated from colleagues. The interviewees proposed strategies, however, on how cases of sexual harassment against women journalists should be addressed in the future. Suggested practices and policy recommendations are presented.

A Resident-Centered View of Sexual Expression in Long-Term Care

Contrary to societal beliefs, older adults residing in nursing homes continue to have sexual interests. However, the right and need to engage in intimate relationships are often ignored in nursing homes, erring on the side of safety and prohibiting intimacy. This is due to ageist sexual stigma, under-educated providers, complexities of care, and fear of retaliation. Nursing homes are not attending to resident preference/choice when it comes to sexuality and intimacy, which ignores the consumer of services and is wholly inconsistent with person-centered care. However, in order to craft resident-centered/informed policies and practices, we must understand the needs and preferences of the resident/consumer. The following presentation will highlight findings from three separate mixed-methods studies that address the consumer, or how now and future residents understand and evaluate intimacy and sexuality in long-term care. We will address potential challenges, areas for intervention, and a unique consumer-oriented solution— sexual advance directives.