Soft Skills in Healthcare: Why Training in Human Factors Has Become Essential
Introduction: Technical skills are no longer enough
In France, thousands of healthcare-associated adverse events (HAEs) occur in healthcare facilities every year. Analysis of these incidents reveals a reality that is often overlooked: the vast majority of these events are not caused by technical failures, but by communication breakdowns, errors in judgment, a lack of situational awareness, or stress and fatigue among healthcare providers.
This finding led the French National Authority for Health (HAS), in collaboration withthe association Facteurs humains en santé (FHS), to publish a framework for non-technical competencies (CNT) in April 2026—a seminal document that redefines the foundations of healthcare education.
What are soft skills?
Soft skills refer to the set of cognitive, social, and personal resources that complement technical skills and directly contribute to safety and performance in healthcare. They fall into three main categories:
1. Cognitive skills
- Situational awareness: perceiving, understanding, and anticipating clinical and environmental changes
- Decision-making: analyzing available options to respond appropriately to uncertainty
- Workload Management: Prioritizing, Planning, and Adapting to the Unexpected
2. Interpersonal skills
- Effective communication: conveying your message clearly and unambiguously to all team members and to the patient
- Teamwork and coordination: cooperation, mutual trust, mutual support
- Leadership: guidance, accountability, conflict management
3. Personal skills
- Stress Management: Staying Effective Under Pressure
- Fatigue Management: Recognizing Your Own Signs of Fatigue and Implementing Appropriate Strategies
These skills are not simply an addition to existing job standards—they are the essential cross-cutting dimensions of those standards, often implicit yet crucial.
Why training on human factors is a public health priority
The U.S. report *To Err is Human* (1999) revealed that more than 70% of serious medical errors are attributable to non-technical human errors. Decades of research in aviation, the nuclear industry, and maritime transport have shown that investing in non-technical skills brings about lasting change in an organization’s safety culture.
The HAS/FHS guidelines clearly confirm this:
A technically competent but poorly coordinated team is at greater risk than a technically competent team that has undergone CNT training.
There are many documented benefits of training in human factors:
- Reducing preventable EIAS through improved early detection of high-risk situations
- Improving coordination among multidisciplinary teams
- Promoting workplace well-being and preventing burnout
- Development of a sustainable safety culture based on reporting, feedback, and collective learning
The Origins of CNTs: From Aeronautics to Healthcare
The history of soft skills began in aircraft cockpits. The 1977 Tenerife air disaster—the deadliest in the history of civil aviation—was not caused by a technical failure, but by communication and coordination issues between the crews. This realization led to the development of Crew Resource Management (CRM) training programs in the 1980s.
This model was subsequently adapted for the medical field, first in anesthesiology and critical care withthe Anaesthesia Crisis Resource Management (ACRM) system, and then gradually across all healthcare professions. Today, it is organizational and human factors (OHF) that provide the systemic framework within which CNTs operate: the human element is no longer the weak link, but a key player in safety and performance.
Frédéric Martin, founder of the SafeTeam Academy and founding member of the Human Factors in Healthcare group
The Human Factors in Health group was founded by a collective of healthcare professionals, ergonomists, and sociologists following their first meeting on September 21, 2017! The group was originally called the Interest Group on Human Functioning in Medicine. It was composed of Thomas Lopes, Frédéric Martin, Christian Morel, Claude Valot, Pierre Raynal, Daphné Michelet, Laurence Piquard, Veronique Normier, Ludovic Mieusset, Sébastien Follet, Julien Picard, Olivier Bory, Rodolphe Lelaidier, François Jaulin, Tobias Gauss, and Thomas Baugnon.
The Human Factors in Health (FHS) group co-led the development of this national framework with the HAS, bringing together doctors, nurses, ergonomists, healthcare executives, patient representatives, and trainers around a shared conviction: core competencies can be learned, maintained, and assessed.
How can you develop soft skills? The SafeTeam Academy Approach
In response to this training challenge, SafeTeam Academy offers programs specifically designed for healthcare professionals, based on best practices validated by the international literature and aligned with the HAS guidelines.
Training programs that follow the recommended instructional design model
The HAS guidelines recommend a specific model: active and experiential teaching methods focused on real-world practice. SafeTeam Academy meets these guidelines with programs based on:
- Healthcare simulation (on-site or in a simulation center) to place teams in realistic yet safe scenarios
- Structured briefings and debriefings to reinforce learning and promote reflection
- Healthcare CRM Sessions (Crew Resource Management tailored to the healthcare sector)
- Case studies and lessons learned from real-life situations experienced by the teams
- Modules led by a multidisciplinary team, promoting mutual understanding of different professional cultures
The 13 key competencies covered in the framework
In accordance with the HAS guidelines, SafeTeam Academy training courses cover all 13 identified topics:
- Organizational and human factors
- Leadership & Teamwork
- Safety Culture
- Self-awareness
- Neuroscience and Performance
- Effective Communication
- Fatigue and Fatigue Management
- Workload Management
- Stress and Stress Management
- Awareness of the situation
- Characteristics of an effective team
- Decision-making
- The patient's role in the team
Initial and continuing education: an educational continuum
The framework emphasizes a spiral approach to learning: the same skills are practiced repeatedly in increasingly complex situations. SafeTeam Academy offers courses tailored to each stage:
- Awareness-raising training for teams just starting the process
- Comprehensive Healthcare CRM Programs for Teams Looking to Take Their Work to the Next Level
- Train-the-trainer programs to amplify internal impact
- Customized support for institutions seeking to integrate CNTs into their quality assurance processes
The practical impact of training in human factors
Training with SafeTeam Academy means investing in measurable results:
For healthcare teams
- Improved management of critical situations and emergencies
- Smoother communication, fewer dangerous ambiguities
- Greater awareness of weak signals and emerging risks
- Reducing feelings of isolation and strengthening team solidarity
For healthcare facilities
- Reduction in preventable adverse events
- Improvement in quality indicators and results on HAS certifications
- Strengthening a measurable safety culture (SAPS surveys, etc.)
- Greater retention of professionals through improved working conditions
For patients
- Safer, better-coordinated care
- Greater patient involvement in the care team
- Reducing complications resulting from communication errors
SafeTeam Academy supports you through this transformation with practical, evidence-based training that can be directly applied to your specific work environment.
