Breaking the Silence: Confidence and Barriers in Raising Concerns Among Undergraduate Dental Students – “A National Study”

Background: Raising concerns in clinical settings, also known as whistleblowing, is vital for safeguarding patient safety and improving the quality of care. Despite research on whistleblowing in medical and nursing fields, there is limited evidence on this topic within dental education. This study aims to assess the self-reported confidence of undergraduate dental students in raising concerns and identify the barriers they encounter. Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized an online close-ended questionnaire distributed via Google Forms to senior undergraduate dental students from Jordan University of Science and Technology and the University of Jordan. Data collection was voluntary, with subsequent analysis performed using RStudio (version 2023.06.2) incorporating R version 4.0.5. Descriptive statistics including confidence intervals were calculated for each item and for the combined dataset. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to determine any significant variation between the results by gender and stage of study. Results: The findings revealed that while students generally felt confident raising concerns related to patient safety, their confidence diminishes when addressing issues related to the conduct of clinical staff or peers. Common barriers reported included fear of causing trouble, lack of support, and fear of being ignored. ANOVA revealed significant variation by gender and year of study, with female students and final-year students reporting greater self-confidence in raising concerns ( p < 0.001). Conclusions: Although dental students show a reasonable level of confidence in raising concerns, the study also identified several barriers. To enhance student confidence and ensure patient safety, it is crucial to improve the supportive environment in dental schools and establish effective reporting mechanisms. Future research should explore the impact of cultural factors on raising concerns in clinical settings and identify additional strategies to support students in raising concerns.