Culture Change? Which One?
By Garrett Coyan, University of Kansas Medical School
The last week I spent at Marseille was very eye-opening for me. I was glad to be surrounded by so many other healthcare professionals that had the same desire to provide the safe and high-quality patient care experiences as I do. Reinvigorated with ideas for improving communication and decreasing risk to my patients, I couldn’t wait to get back to my institution and start implementing change. However, as I returned to the hospital today, I was quickly reminded of the main reason why this goal will be so difficult. Not only does cultural change need to occur in the hospital, but I would argue that even more importantly, cultural change needs to occur in the education of health professions students. This was made evidently clear by a conversation I had with one of my recently graduated colleagues who is staring his internship… Continue reading
Change Starts At The Top at #TPSER8
Day 3 at the Marseille Patient Safety Educational Roundtable and Resident Summer Camp started with the annual hike up to Bear Creek Falls–an excellent team building exercise that always leads to relaxed and enlightened discussion about the work to be done and the knowledge gained from the week. It also provides yet another opportunity to get to know colleagues on a personal level, and build lasting relationships that will provide a support system for quality and safety efforts once everyone returns to their respective institutions.
Coincidence or not, we started the day near the top of the San Juan mountain range, and throughout the day it was reinforced that to achieve meaningful change in healthcare, it is imperative that hospital leadership not only supports, but leads the charge. Jill Prafke led a thought-provoking workshop on how to build effective teams with the ability to institute change during the afternoon session.… Continue reading
Day #1 Transforming Mindsets Reflection – Todd Guth
We have just finished up the first day of the Resident Physician Transforming Mindsets Workshop in Marseille, CO. There has been much discussion on several issues in patient safety today. The issue that sticks with me most in the need for widespread cultural change within an institution if patient safety is to improve.
Cultural change within large institutions, such as hospitals, medical schools and medical specialities, can be a top-down or bottom-up phenomenon, but broad support across the entire institution must be in place for the cultural change to occur. My perception of the first day of our activities is that folks generally thought of being on the bottom can in fact be the agents of change. Grass roots efforts by residents, medical students, and other health care workers generally thought of being at the bottom of the power pyramid can make genuine differences in patient care through their individual… Continue reading