Methods
This study, with an overall goal of illuminating lived experiences, is based on the underpinnings of a qualitative narrative approach and interpretive orientation. This approach is founded on the idea that humans individually and collectively construct meaning from their relationships with one another53. Thus, narrative methodology allowed us to interpret stories in terms of how they are structured, told, and valued by those who share them, revealing underlying ideologies54. As a concept, narrative inquiry draws parallels with the field of narrative medicine—which illuminates one’s ability to acknowledge, absorb, interpret, and act on the stories of others. Like narrative medicine, narrative inquiry reiterates the importance of a rich resonant comprehension of individuals’ experiences55. Because narratives have the power to improve the care of patients, renew physicians’ commitments to their own health/fulfillment, support the care of their colleagues, and reiterate the fidelity to medicine’s ideals, these contexts would serve as important cornerstones for a study focusing on medical errors. Additionally, narrative inquiry 1) accommodates inconsistencies in an individual’s perception of their experiences, motivating the exploration of these inconsistencies; 2) aligns with a natural tendency to share harrowing experiences in the form of stories, allowing for purposeful data collection; and 3) values the temporal context of people’s experiences, which allows for a deeper exploration of the sequence of events. In narrative inquiry, meaning is derived through the multiple perspectives that are contributed across stories. Rather than just telling a story (e.g., of how physicians experience their medical errors), narrative inquiry aims to organize, explore, and make meaning from multiple perspectives by piecing together a meta-narrative that is constructed from the data56. The meta-narrative is a story with an accompanying metaphor that is compiled through forming linkages and identifying patterns within and between each individual story told by a single participant. The creation of this meta-narrative is a helpful way to understand this data because it illuminates the voices of participants, while simultaneously applying new concepts and principles from a metaphor (i.e., a parallel field).