A Day of Inspiration, Stories and New Perspectives at today’s
Relationship-Based Care Symposium!
It was a day filled with new insights and shared stories that inspired
and renewed our commitment to our healing professions. Our morning
kicked off with Dr. Mae Jemison, M.D., a woman whose diversity of
talent and experience almost defies the imagination! How many doctor/
engineers/dancers do you know who have traveled to space, served the
poor in Cambodia, are the inventor and CEO of a high-tech medical
devices company and have a place in fifth grade science text books?
Here are just a few of the paradoxes and ideas that Dr. Jemison
challenged us to consider:
“The arts and science do not have to be mutually exclusive. They are
both rooted in creativity.”
“People invest in what they can measure. But just because you can or
cannot measure something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s worthwhile,
valuable, pertinent or important.”
On the subject of Health Care Reform:
“There’s a difference between access to health insurance and access to
health care. Health care is not part of an interchangeable business
model.”
On experience, she quoted Mark Twain:
“You learn something by carrying a cat by the tail that you cannot
learn any other way.”
On committees, she said:
“A committee is a cul de sac where good ideas are lured and then
quietly strangled.”
Finally, Dr. Jemison equated initiating ideas with holding a ball in
the air and the law of physics. The power of a ball is inert as long
as one is holding it up in the air. Its power is felt when one adds
motion. Similarly, ideas are nothing until someone takes the risk of
putting them into action.
All of us walked away moved and stimulated by Dr. Jemison’s unique,
challenging, and powerful perspectives.
NURSE-PHYSICIAN PARTNERSHIPS: Shared Commitment to Patient Care
What a captivating idea: let’s put a group of docs and a group of
nurses together and have them write for 10 minutes about a critical
incident, an unforgettable moment in their practice. Jack Truten, RN,
PhD and Lorraine Dickey, MD, MBA, FAAP shared their experiences of
running these groups in an effort to transform patient care, combat
compassion fatigue and rebuild teams. It works. Narrative
Professional Initiative Medicine has taken hold at Lehigh Valley
Health Network and amazing stories came out of this session. Some
universal issues that have emerged include:
• Nurses’ and doctors’ predisposition to beat themselves up when
something goes wrong: self blame and rumination on “How could I have
done that?” “Others are more professional than me” and similar
negative, unproductive self talk.
• Doctors and nurses asking themselves: “When is it my professional
obligation to speak up, especially when it’s on behalf of my patient?”
A program like this needs to be leadership-driven and grass roots
support. Tenacity and passion to stick it out are key.
Nurse-Physician Partnerships Intensive: Shared Commitment to Patient Care
POWER OF PRIMARY RELATIONSHIPS
Three health systems shared their experiences of implementing RBC. One
added dimension of the discussion was having presenters talk about how
phlebotomists and pharmacists are instituting RBC. Many inspiring
stories were told that reminded us of why we went into health care in
the first place. Patients remembering our names, forever being
touched by our patients, and our deep understanding that what we do is
truly sacred.
What the panalists left us with is simple and applies to anyone who is
being an agent of change:
1. Have fun
2. Keep an open mind
3. Don’t give up
There is power in sharing and it is truly inspiring when all of us
come together from across the country and in four countries to share
and realize all that we have in common. Another great day!
Terri Moss
Moss Communications
Co-author and Publisher,
Healing with Heart: Inspirations for Health Care Professionals
Thank you for the blogs from the symposium. They were a wonderful way to link to the event when unable to attend personally. Another great way that CHCM practices what it preaches! Much appreciation!
I have only one regret after attending this phenominal event……I wish I would have invited a Physician that I work shoulder to shoulder with on a daily basis…this was an experience that we truelly should have both embarked on and embraced together…what a great way to see each other as to human beings from the same world!