Healing patients, and hospitals
In our hospitals, we’ve experienced, witnessed, or read about incivility and hostility between patients and health care providers, as well as between providers and their associates. We’re losing our humanity to each other.
Why?
Due, in part to under-staffing and increasing time constraints, some physicians and their associates have reluctantly opted for early retirement. Others are approaching or experiencing burnout, and in the extreme, some have taken their own lives. Many health care providers say, “This is not why I got into medicine.” We’ve all heard the phrase “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” Many are approaching “empty” and patients are losing patience.
As underserved patients, it’s important for us to know that many hospitals are already at work healing themselves first so they’re healthy enough to care for us.
Hospitals are first addressing the health and well-being of their providers by instituting “Wellness” programs.
Peer-to-Peer support programs are focusing on recognizing when fellow workers appear to be approaching, or experiencing, burnout or having difficulty with a personal life crisis. Some of what’s taught is the skill of compassionate listening and validating the feelings and concerns that are being shared. In addition to de-stressing and maintaining provider wellness, it’s contributing to optimizing provider-to-patient engagement and communications skills.
Provider Educator programs are addressing the increasing diversity of our communities. Curriculums include inter-cultural competency, referring to optimizing cultural, racial and gender engagements to deepen the understanding of patient’s backgrounds. Workers are also mentored to become better medical educators, as well as to improve clinical and operational performance.
One participating physician shared: “A new learning experience was needed, exactly when I needed it. I was falling through the cracks. My interest in my career was taking a hit, after COVID and burnout. I lost my happiness, that sense of why am I doing this? Offered this opportunity to become a better teacher gave me energy and a reason to keep going.”
As wellness and educator programs help to mitigate burnout and maintain provider health, they serve to improve patient care and the patient’s experience.
FYI, hospitals are rated, not just by clinical outcomes, but also by how patients and families were, or weren’t, engaged, respected, and listened to. This rating system is called HCHAPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) and based on patient surveys. Taking your hospital’s post-care survey impacts the hospital’s financial bottom line, for the better or for the worse!
Many expressed the need to see, and be seen more, by their leadership.
Everyone needs to hear; “I see you, I hear you and you matter,” especially patients. One physician went as far as to say; The C suite (CEO, COO, etc.) are no longer real people to us. If that’s true, then disconnected leaders may be less aware of a decline in their organization’s culture, performance, patient care and HCHAPS.
A while back, I interviewed Kevin Burke, former chairman, CEO/president of ConEd. When asked about what’s expected of his leaders and senior managers, he replied that “If I’m not made aware of serious issues, in a timely manner, and my leaders may be afraid, or worse, unaware to tell me about it, they’re not leading and our organization’s already in trouble.”
If what’s being expressed by health care workers is true, then leaders reconnecting with staff appears essential for improving patient care and the patient experience. Oh, let’s not forget the hospitals’ improved HCHAPS scores.
A bi-directional process is simultaneously enhancing the patient and provider experience. It’s increasing the provider-to-patient ratio (hiring more staff ), instituting and sustaining wellness programs, increasing intercultural competency, and reconnecting leadership with their workers. Hopefully, it’s restoring wellness, civility, improving provider morale and enhancing patient satisfaction.
For now, let’s try to understand why our providers are often frustrated, some exhausted and burning out. They’re in medicine because they want to serve us, and despite all their challenges, they still are.