Communication is an important aspect of nursing practice. Effective communication is complete, clear, concise, and timely. SDAHO’s Nurse Leadership program participants have been meeting virtually and most recently met in-person during SDAHO’s Post Acute Partners in Care conference to discuss how to “make it safe” in order to have crucial conversations. Using the framework of Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, they explored why people either go to silence or verbal violence when feeling unsafe in a conversation. The group then explored how to restore safety by addressing the reason people feel unsafe, which is their perception of your intent…are you saying I am not competent? Smart enough? Not a team player? etc…
During their time together, they discussed scenarios and demonstrated the skills learned through role playing how to “make it safe”. Along with identifying and understanding why someone feels unsafe, the process of building a safe environment to discuss crucial concerns includes 3 key steps:
- Stepping out of the content/conversation
- Rebuilding safety
- Then stepping back in to discuss content
Nurses who professionally communicate concerns in their workplace are essential to ensuring quality care for their patients and improving the systems in which they work. Previous Nurse Leadership sessions have included identifying a crucial conversation, “mastering our stories” (what is fact and what is the story), “start with heart”, how to “state my path” and how to “explore others’ paths”.
In addition to participating in the various Post Acute Care Partners in Care Conference breakout sessions, the Nurse Leadership program participants listened to SDAHO’s Legislative Session Review on April 6.
Feedback regarding the Nurse Leadership program include:
- I am feeling more confident in my ability to hold crucial conversations,
- I have truly appreciated and understand the crucial conversations discussions and skills thus far. I have tried to incorporate them into my home and professional life, with some success. This makes me excited to continue learning new concepts and skills to have successful crucial conversations.
- I am thoroughly enjoying this course and the knowledge I am developing!
The next SDAHO Nurse Leadership session will cover Principles of Healthcare Finance on May 25. This session will look at increasing the understanding of financial statements and the impact for clinical practice setting, staff, and patients/residents, how quality metrics impact healthcare reimbursement, and much more!
