HEARTLAND LINK…..
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May 19, 2015
For quite some time now, Heartland’s Board of Directors has been inviting people to start the Board meetings with a
patient voice. This involves a patient or family member to open the Board meeting with their story about the
experiences they have had with the health care system. The purpose of hearing the patient voice is not to solicit
compliments and complaints, although part of the process is to hear about what went well and what was not so great
about the patients’ encounter with us. Over the past couple of years the Board has heard from people in various
communities and from various programs and services that we offer. We have heard about experiences with EMS, Long
Term Care, Emergency, Acute Care, and Home based services. Many of the stories involve experiences in more than
one of our programs or in more than one region. Sometimes the stories compare experiences in Heartland with
experiences in other provinces. It is really interesting to hear about the differences that people mention about what it is that makes an
experience great for them. The research says that very often people will give more weight to how they were greeted when they arrived at the
facility than they will to the clinical intervention they received. I can relate to that because entering a health facility as a patient or loved one
can be a scary experience. A warm welcome makes a difference.
You may wonder why we ask patients and family members to tell us their stories? I think it is just one component of our effort to provide
patient and family centred care, to get feedback on areas where we are doing really well and should share information with each other, and to
focus our improvement efforts on things that really matter to people. When we have these conversations with people prior to a meeting, one
of the things that everyone mentions is that it reminds us of why we are here. It grounds our discussions in the patient experience whether
we are talking about a clinical protocol or the way in which our budget is allocated. There have been conversations about access for people
with disabilities, equipment and staffing to help people be as independent as possible in their care, the added value of a greeting or a kind
word, new technology, making volunteers and community members a valued part of the team, maintaining our aging facilities so they remain
serviceable and as user friendly as possible.
I have had lots of exposure to education around “patient and family centred care”, especially resident focused care in LTC over the years. I
must admit that sometimes it is hard to stretch my head around the concept because I have that tendency to think “duh” when people talk
about putting the patient first. Don’t we all do that? Isn’t that why we are here? These are small communities. Of course we treat our
clients like neighbours and family. In our hearts I think we are all here with that purpose in mind. Our first thought would be that it is what
we all do every day. But think again.
I have often said that we are creatures of routine in healthcare. We have routines and protocols for many things. The down side of our
routines and the language we use to describe them is that sometimes they might take precedence over pausing for a pleasant conversation
with a patient or greeting a visitor who enters our building to visit a loved one or access one of our services. Imagine that you are a family
member overhearing a conversation in the nursing station while you are waiting to be acknowledged. How patient centred would it feel for
you to hear your mother referred to as a “feeder”. Sadly, that is fairly common language between providers who are talking about people
who need assistance at meal times.
A big aspect of Lean is to standardize routines so that we can reduce the risk of error. If standardization does reduce the risk of error – which
I believe that it does – then it is good. But as we engage in these improvement initiatives and standardization of our routines we may need an
occasional reminder to pause and reflect on the impact of our behaviours on the recipients of our services. Listening to the patient voice is a
great way to do that. I haven’t been the least bit offended by any of the advice that patients, families, and staff have given to me in these
talks. Instead, I have been fascinated by how something that I think is perfectly ok can be upsetting or offensive to others. In our last Link I
talked about an article that focused on reducing the risk of injury through mistake-proofing. It was interesting that the article addressed the
fact that healthcare is not like manufacturing in the sense that we employ people in our routines more than we do machines. So, the expertise
of healthcare workers is one of the things that makes us good at implementing helpful routines with the human element always at the
forefront.
“It is ironic that awareness, intentionality, and kindness may still be sadly undernourished in many hospital settings,
especially since these qualities are ostensibly what hospitals are all about. The very word ‘hospital’ betokens
‘hospitality’, and honored greeting, a true receiving. But somehow it is still too easy within hospitals and the stream of
medical care, although nobody intends it to happen, to get lost, to not be met or heard or fully seen, and to not be
followed to the point of completion and personal satisfaction”.
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Patients and caregivers are important participants on the care team. In our efforts to help people receive the care they need and keep their
independence as much as possible it is our duty to invite input, to listen, and to develop care plans that are tailored to the realities of the
patient’s everyday life. The recent comment from the provincial auditor about explicitly telling residents and their families about the types of
medications being ordered and the potential side-effects comes to mind. We have everything to gain from the purposeful sharing of pertinent
information.
HEARTLAND LINK…..
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HEARTLAND LINK…..
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HEARTLAND LINK…..
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Heartland Health Region Launches
New and Improved Website
Check it out at
www.hrha.sk.ca
Many new features
and pages to check
out and highlight
Heartland Health
Region
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Unity Staff Digging in Dirt for Wellness
Some staff in Unity went to KP Gardens in Unity and received a
lesson on how to plant flowers or herbs in a pot.
Attending were:
Donna Boser/Kelly, Jocelyn Schaab, Kathy Johnson, Lisa Timmermans,
Armina Bridgeman and Joan Leslie! It was a fun time learning all
about plants and what they need to thrive!!!
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Kindersley Staff Help out with McHappy Day
On May 6th, some Kindersley staff volunteered at the local Mc Donald’s restaurant to
help out with McHappy day. They helped out by selling chocolates, wiping tables,
prepping coffee and tweeting pictures. They each put in 2 hours of their time to help
out Saskatoon Ronald McDonald House.
Cheryl Molnar, Crystal
Perkins and Sharon Forsyth
pose for pictures in the
restaurant while
helping out!
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