Table 4 Factors contributing to healthcare professionals’ adaptive capacity

1. Psychological and emotional

Healthcare professionals’ confidence, invulnerability, feelings, and justification towards hospital standardization. E.g., high levels of confidence with treatment choices would lead oncologists to adapt the recommendations for cancer pain management [63]

2. Cognitive

Healthcare professionals’ attitudes and beliefs towards hospital standardization. E.g., nurses justifying adaptations when they believe that rules and policies are not in the best interest of the patient [75]

3. Motivational

Healthcare professionals’ moral responsibility, obligation, and personal comfort with hospital standardization. E.g., physicians stating that following tuberculosis infection control practices is a moral responsibility [33]

4. Knowledge and experience

Healthcare professionals’ individual knowledge, education, and experience with hospital standardization. E.g., nurses increased knowledge and clinical experience with standard precautions showed a positive correlation with adaptations [42, 29]

5. Professional role

Healthcare professionals’ authority, autonomy, and clinical judgement related to hospital standardization. E.g., nurses using discretionary judgement to selectively make decisions about when to enforce a strict interpretation of the hospital policy for surgical count or not [59]

6. Risk management

Healthcare professionals’ self-protection and safety precautions related to hospital standardization. E.g., wanting to protect themselves from the personal costs of getting infections [41] or being reprimanded or reported [71]

7. Patient and family

Healthcare professionals’ desire to meet patient and family needs and expectations, and to protect them. E.g., reduced use of facemasks to prevent patients feeling stigmatized or isolated [24]

8. Work relationships

Healthcare professionals’ collaborative environment, collegial support, communication, and teamwork. E.g., teamwork and collegial support influencing how successful the use of fall prevention guidelines are [71]