Table 1.

Examples of patients’ contribution to mindful organizing

Element	Definition	Example of patient contribution
Preoccupation with failure	Being constantly aware of the potential for an unexpected event that could compromise patient safety	Querying the substitution of prescribed medication by a pharmacist
Reluctance to simplify medication interpretations	Questioning assumptions and received wisdom to create a more complete and nuanced understanding of risks	Cross‐checking different sources of advice (eg doctor; medicines literature)
Sensitivity to operations	On‐going interaction and information sharing about human and organizational factors that are influencing the current safety level	Highlighting specific communication needs and suggesting ways of providing for these needs
Commitment to resilience	Maintaining a capability to detect, contain, recover and learn from an adverse event before it causes further harm	Identifying a medication error and discussing the error with health‐care professionals
Deference to expertise	When dealing with a problem, allowing decisions to be made by those with the most expertise, regardless of formal role	Where capable, engaging in shared decision making about medication usage

Definitions adapted from Vogus & Sutcliffe.12