Are theoretical perspectives useful to explain nurses' tolerance of suboptimal care?

This paper explores two theoretical perspectives that may help nurse managers understand why staff tolerate suboptimal standards of care.
Standards of care have been questioned in relation to adverse events and errors for some years in health care across the western world. More recently, the focus has shifted to inadequate nursing standards with regard to care and compassion, and a culture of tolerance by staff to these inadequate standards.
The theories of conformity and cognitive dissonance are analysed to investigate their potential for helping nurse managers to understand why staff tolerate suboptimal standards of care.