Author's posts
Transform your health care team with these 5-minute communication exercises
An excerpt from The Medical Improv Toolkit: 10 Simple Activities to Promote Safe Care, Healthy Workplaces, & Rewarding Careers! “Were there none who were discontented with what they have, the world would never reach anything better.” ~F…
A simple, quick activity to build community within your health care team
I’ve been using experiential activities from improvisation as a modality for teaching communication-related skills for about two decades. Because they are based on a “YES AND” philosophy, which requires everyone’s participation,…
Healthy hierarchy for patient safety, experience, and staff wellbeing
The hierarchy must be healthy to achieve critical outcomes in patient safety, patient experience, workforce health and wellbeing, and cost-effectiveness. In a healthy hierarchy, staff must have the right skills, education, and experience to direct and …
The complexity of resilience and the role of medical improv
High incidences of burnout, quiet quitting, suicide, workplace violence, excessive and relentless stress, and chronic staffing shortages reveal a huge need for resilience among health care workers. Resilience is a complex competency involving flexibili…
Why emotional intelligence is critical for safe nurse staffing
In Daniel Goleman’s model of emotional intelligence (EQ), there are two main competencies: Personal competency, which includes self-awareness, self-regulation, and motivation; and social competency, which includes social skills and empathy. We ca…
Communication, power dynamics, and organizational culture in health care
In a recent podcast conversation with Kevin Pho, MD, we talked about the importance of assertiveness in health care, including the ability to say “No” and the significance of culture in supporting it. One of the topics we touched on was the…
The importance of “I statements” in health care settings
Three nurses are at the nurses’ station. Two are talking about managing a patient’s pain, and a third, Donna, is reviewing a patient’s lab results and finding it difficult to concentrate. Which is Donna’s best statement? 1) Shhh…
Empowering health care professionals: the art of saying “no” and more
Setting limits, asking for help, delegating, or even saying “no” are important assertiveness skills. Health care professionals should be proficient in assertiveness because of the potential impact on patient safety, patient experience, work…
“YES AND”: a vital, versatile, and visionary leadership tool
Patient safety, patient experience, workforce health, and cost-effectiveness are critical outcomes that share important common roots. They are all impacted by our ability to communicate effectively and respectfully. This can be challenging, in part, be…
