2008 National Conference
November 17–19
Grapevine, TX
INSIDE THE POST EDITION
2008 National Client Conference, Texas Style
CEO Forum Focuses on Leadership and the Future
Hourly Rounding a “Win-Win Situation” for Patients and Staff
Crucial Conversations Enhance Safety Culture in Health Care
Success Starts With Leadership
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Crucial Conversations Enhance Safety Culture in Health Care
What is not being said can have a dramatic impact on the outcome of a situation. But in a hospital setting, what is not being said can also result in deadly consequences.
David Angel, president and CEO of Gabriel Communications, presented ways to help overcome communication obstacles in the Nov. 19 session, “Silence Kills: Seven Crucial Conversations for Health Care.”
“The Law of Crucial Conversations says anytime you’re stuck—when you’re not getting the results you’re wanting—there’s a crucial conversation keeping you there,” stated Angel. “Backtrack from the poor results to that conversation you’re not holding, or not holding well, and get better at everything.”
Angel said crucial conversations are defined as those having strong emotions, high stakes, and opposing opinions.
“How do you get unstuck?” he asked. “How do you step up and hold those conversations?”
Angel said the first step toward better communication outcomes is a change in heart, which begins when someone admits that he or she is the person who should be trying to improve. He recommends the person ask, “What do I really want?” and “Am I behaving in ways that move me toward what I want?”
Another tip he offered was to watch for signs that a conversation is turning crucial.
“Remember, the sooner you catch problems, the sooner you can return to dialogue and the less severe the damage,” he said.
Questions one can ask when conversations turn crucial include, “Am I noticing signs that safety is at risk?” and “Am I moving to my style under stress?”
Other suggestions Angel offered were learning to apologize when appropriate, being aware of roles people assume (victim and villain), speaking honestly and confidently, being open to others’ viewpoints, and moving to action by implementing a plan of action.
Angel said health care workers regularly see colleagues break rules, make mistakes, fail to offer support, or appear incompetent; yet very few dare to say anything about it.
“But we found that when people step up in health care and hold those conversations, nursing turnover dramatically drops, error rates drop, patient satisfaction scores go up, and productivity increases because people are getting better results.”
Implementation of Safety Coaches is Critical
The implementation of a patient safety coach is critical to a proactive approach to patient safety, according to Kim Judd in her Nov. 19 session, “Safety Coaches: Making Patient Safety a Priority.”
Judd, RN, MSN, SVP for Patient Care, University Medical Center, told attendees that the utilization of unit-based patient safety coaches has increased the opportunity to identify safety issues before an “event” occurs.
“It’s all about being proactive in your actions,” she said. “That’s what the safety coach program is: identifying (potential problems) and taking care of them before anything happens to the patient.”
Judd explained to the attendees at the safety culture session that patient safety should have as much focus in a facility as customer service.
“I want this to be equally as important as any customer service program that you have because they are very intertwined,” Judd said. “If a patient has a bad event, related to a safety problem, there’s not enough service recovery to take care of that and have the patient leave happy.”
The focus of the session centered implementing a patient safety program that involves staff in identifying safety concerns and working to employ safe measures for correction.
