…I shared my reality that the Culture of Healthcare warrants more than one blog. This month I’ve opened the door to what may become one of several blogs I post on the topic or its surrounding subjects. Time will tell as I hear more from You, our readers about what interests You most. Please share your comments!

As February 2022 unfolds we are publishing our blog on the Culture of Healthcare, celebrating:

• Black History Month (the theme of which is Black Health and Wellness),
• Ushering in the month of love as we approach Valentine’s Day,
• The arrival of the Winter Olympic Games.

It proves to be an interesting combination of events all of which reconnects me to the “I Have a Dream” speech. A dream for health and wellness, a reminder to always come from a place of love in our communication with others and the fulfillment of a dream of mine in figure skating for which I’m grateful.

While I won’t be covering the Winter Olympic Games, I will acknowledge the connection between Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and the debut of Jamaica & Saudi Arabia as well as the second time that Haiti & the Philippines will participate in the Olympics this winter season. Asa Miller will represent the Philippines for the second time in the men’s giant slalom event. British-born Benjamin Alexander represents Jamaica in skiing making this the second time Jamaica was represented in the Olympics. Previously Jamaica was represented by its bobsleigh team’s founding member Dudley Stokes.

Debuting will be Haitian born and Italian adopted, Richardson Viano representing Haiti in the men’s giant slalom event. Salman Al-Howaish and Fayik Abdi were both confirmed to represent Saudi Arabia. Although only one will actually participate due to the lack of enough quota points needed for both to take part. This is not an uncommon occurrence that a country may not have enough points for both athletes to compete.

This was the case in the 1998 Winter Olympic Games when the United States did not meet its quota to send three men to compete. Only two men where eligible to compete that year. That placed both 3^rd place finisher, Scott Davis and 4^th place finisher, Shepherd Clark at the US National Championships in Philadelphia, PA as alternates in the event one or both eligible skaters had to withdraw.

This is a good sign for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion that countries that were not included in the past have found their way into the present by stepping into the Olympic spotlight to be counted among the many countries, seasoned at competition at the Winter Games. This comes at a time when all eyes are on the world of inclusion as we strive to learn how to overcome the challenges that have brought us to focus on the inequities and limitations that have faced the United States since its beginnings and our global community for quite some time.

The need for change is being felt in countless areas of our lives including sport, business and healthcare. Now that the world is seemingly under a microscope to identify more change needed around inclusion and equitable treatment, we are now seeing Diversity & Inclusion becoming an insurance matter. Given the $600 billion in corporate turnover and $10 billion in annual Diversity & Inclusion lawsuits, business leaders in today’s market are charged with finding ways to incentivize inclusivity across industries.

The question is, how do we get ahead of this fast moving snowball so that business leaders can wisely manage the way they do business going forward in this new emerging paradigm shift to legalized inclusion? I encourage you to click the button below and book a strategy session to determine how we might work together to bring harmony to the topic of inclusion in your business.

Many in today’s healthcare system have equitable treatment as their goal; they are restricted by time, resources, management directives, and insurance restrictions. Nurses and doctors would love to spend more time with each patient, building a plan to cure the ailment that prompted their medical visit and improve their quality of life. Often, they are pressured by the bottom line. Compound this with staff shortages, and it becomes a matter of survival on both ends.

Doctor visits average five to ten minutes, and those in hospitals are often given standard protocols, and they hope for the best. “Come back if that doesn’t work,” they say. This is one example where healthcare is complicated, and, unfortunately, poor choices can be made. Innovations take a while to work their way into the system, and sometimes they are rejected due to cost or time constraints.

The medical profession is designed to treat symptoms and not underlying root causes. Most people aren’t willing to make necessary changes in their lives and look for miracles in pills instead. The challenge with finding a balance is compounded by limits on both ends of the spectrum.

For some of us, we have blind trust in the healthcare system. When we get sick, we expect a remedy. When our family members or ourselves are in pain, we want relief. The difficulty lies in each of us working together to be heard. Clinicians and patients benefit when healthcare providers look up from their tablets and listen to their patients. Conversations take time. They require attention, heart, and thoughtful contemplation as information is gathered. This is not a time to give in to the rush we experience today in healthcare.

Unfortunately, many people see and experience those impersonal treatments and avoid doctors and the hospital… until it becomes an emergency. The system is broken and leaves many people behind. 

Others question the science. Hospitals have their protocols, and these are not perfect in every situation. Here’s where politics comes into play. Building a relationship between clinician and patient is the goal. The limits of time negatively impact doing so to a greater degree. This makes it challenging for a patient to share personal information that could make the difference in how their treatment plan is designed and carried out successfully.

One way to make a difference is to give more time and attention to the tenets of self-care. Abigail, a recently graduated nurse in New York, shared that the lack of self-care among healthcare clinicians is so widespread that it is ironic that these professionals provide our care as patients striving to return to flourishing health and wellness.

First, consider the concept of self-care in a different light. Restorative self-care is attention we give ourselves on a daily, or nearly as often, frequency that is about restoring our mind, body and spirit. This includes our emotional energy and soundness.

As a way of checking your success in seeing to your needs, take a moment to create a list of ways you practice restorative self-care. Give yourself a time limit to create your list by setting a stopwatch for the activity. In the event you choose to brainstorm this list with another person, I recommend two minutes. Should you prefer to create this list yourself, give yourself five minutes to compile the list.

Once you complete your list within the self-allotted time, create four columns on a separate piece of paper with the following headings across the top: Mind, Body, Spirit, Emotional Energy. Then write a sentence or two describing how each restorative self-care action contributes to the topic heading of each column. Then choose someone with whom you feel comfortable discussing your results. Determine by the end of your conversation whether or not you feel you are restoratively self-caring for yourself. The goal is to achieve satisfaction and confidence that you are effectively addressing your restorative health in order to face the pressures of your profession.

You may find it surprising what new insights present themselves to you by the end of this process. Should you discover deficits in accomplishing restorative self-care, click the button below and book a strategy session with me to determine what you can do as a leader to protect yourself from burnout.

“There are more than 9,000 billing codes for individual procedures and units of care. But there is not a single billing code for patient adherence or improvement, or for helping patients stay well.”
― Clayton M. Christensen

To innovate a healthcare system that serves more people with compassion, clinicians must look up from their clipboards and truly listen. We also want doctors, nurses, and hospitals to break away from standard protocols and over-reliance on the pharmaceutical industry. How we use these efficiently while keeping in mind what is best for a patient, or a medical professional is up to each of us.

Hi, I’m Byron Darden, and I am here to help you navigate difficult paths. Whether you are looking for guidance or a new perspective for your organization, change starts with you, and I can provide the tools to help navigate your leadership within the healthcare culture. Click the button below to schedule time for You and I to explore how we might collaborate.