In a recent post I shared a video that depicted how poor communication and toxic cultures contribute to problems with patient safety, patient experience, workforce health and cost effectiveness. The 5 minute video, What? No Gloves? is a dramatization and can be hard to watch b/c there is culpability on everyone. Yet, it offers important insights and is a great teaching tool as it can be used to raise awareness and inspire dynamic conversations that lead to long term meaningful change.
Feel free to use in an inservice on QI, communication, or patient safety or as a homework assignment for healthcare staff or nursing or medical students! Watch the video and have them rewrite the story based on positive communication and a culture.
Here’s My +++ Redux!
A post-op patient is horrified to see a nurse pick up soiled wound gauze from the floor without gloves. When the surgeon comes in, the patient says, “That nurse did not wear gloves. She picked up dirty bandages. It was disgusting!”
The surgeon responds, “I can understand how that would be disgusting. I’ll try to find out what happened”. He catches up with the nurse, “Hey Sally, got a minute? Mrs. Smith says she saw a nurse pick up dirty wound dressings without gloves. Was that you?
Sally exhales and responds, “Oh yes, I went to grab gloves and the box was empty. Something that has been happening a lot. An IV alarm was going off, and I’ve been trying to get Mr. Jone’s blood transfusion going. Thanks for calling me on it. I’ll apologize to Mrs. Smith and let the Nurse Manager know about the glove situation.
The surgeon sighs, “I understand. Let’s talk with the Nurse Manager together and see what’s going on with the gloves. I think talking with the patient is a great idea.”
After both these conversations took place the patient felt better about the nursing care. The Nurse Manager found several rooms were out of gloves and reached out to Central Supply. Together they figured out the underlying problem and immediately implemented a solution for stocking the rooms.
Image by Van3ssa 🩺 Zheki 🙏 Dazzy 🎹 from Pixabay
Neither the CEO or CNO knew about the incident, but did send out a congratulatory letter to staff several months later that cited improved outcomes in several key areas including an increase in Patient Experience scores!
Interactions Matter!
Sometimes the links between communication and outcomes are hard to see. Yet, the quality of interactions impacts all critical outcomes. If you’d like to learn how experiential activities can be used to promote Cultural Sensitivity or Team Development, check out these upcoming workshops I’ll be presenting through Dartmouth Professional Development this Spring.
If you’d like to learn more about standard and customized Medical Improv programming that can be used for staff, leaders, faculty, and students to develop communication-related skills offered in dynamic collaboration with Corporate Trainer, Ellen Schnur and former Major League Baseball Pitcher, Jim Mecir, please check out our flyer.
And you can always reach out to Beth@bethboynton.com or Ellen.schnur@comcast.net. We are happy to schedule a conversation to answer questions and brainstorm possibilities.
Follow
