When facilitated with care, medical improv helps staff develop emotional intelligence, effective communication skills, and abilities associated with creative problem-solving and critical thinking. This kind of individual and relational expertise impacts just about everything even though it might feel hard to describe.
Signs of Relational Agility
When staff are getting along well a variety of respectful interactions can be observed within a team or throughout an organization.
People tend to be more flexible and adaptable to each others’ differences. They learn from, teach each other, apologize and forgive when necessary, show ownership and navigate conflict well.
‘Soft’ skills are also at work as staff readily help each other, express and respect each others’ boundaries, and rapidly exchange professional opinions as dynamic healthcare situations unfold in-the-moment. And there may be times when laughing or crying are appropriate and need to be expressed.
These examples may be hard to measure, but you feel it in the air because the culture is so healthy. YAY!!!
Measurable Impact
The improvement in relational skills can be measured as these results from one 2.5 hour workshop with students and faculty at Harper College show.
- 91.8% of students indicated improvement in expressive skills such as; self-awareness, confidence asking for help, and giving feedback
- 92.6% of students indicated improvement with listening skills such as validating, perspective-taking, empathy, and receiving feedback
- 93.4% of students indicated improved understanding about the importance of practicing effective and respectful communication as a healthcare professional
The improvement in relational skills will also impact any of your indicators regarding, patient safety, patient experience, workforce morale and safe nurse staffing as they are also linked to the quality of relational skills employed by doctors, nurses, and others. If your medical improv program is helping that you’ll see:
- Improved patient experience scores
- Fewer mistakes and when they do happen important learning and quality improvement take place right away.
- Retention and morale str up and turnover is down. This will be aligned with recruiting and sustaining a diverse workforce.
- Leapfrog grading will show high ratings for safe, quality, and efficient care.
- Improved quality measures such as a decrease in hospital-associated infections (HAI).
Ultimately, designing medical improv workshops will include framing of the objectives that YOU are trying to achieve.
Learn more:
- Peer-reviewed article in Nov Issue of Nursing2026 – Medical improv as a strategy for creative problem-solving and positive change (Abstract)
- Using Medical Improv to Cultivate Dignity in Healthcare – Free online workshop hosted by the Applied Improvisation Network (AIN).
11/11/26 6p EST – Zoom link - Self-paced train-the-trainer program available now! Medical Improv: 3 Paths to Practice (If you like the sound of these and want to discuss a live event for your management team reach out to me at beth@bethboynton.com.
Note: Image by TungArt7 from Pixabay
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