A Note from Patient Advocacy Council Co-Chair Kim Pedersen

It’s an extra tough time right now for our patients, families, visitors and employees. There is great fear given the ravaging flu season and ongoing Coronavirus threat. This can make all of us more on edge, anxious, and challenged to receive important information or messages that need to be shared. So, what do we do as patient advocates during a time like this? I believe we go back to the basics of active, engaged listening. I think we forgot that sometimes words are not what is powerful, but it’s the quiet around words that has meaning. It can be touching someone’s arm as appropriate, nodding your head, or keeping eye contact. It’s acknowledging and allowing people to have fears, questions, and even anger.

Through the years, great philosophers have agreed. “Silence is one of the great arts of conversation,” stated Marcus Tullius Cicero, and Xenocrates said, “I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.” Even “anonymous” was eloquent on the subject saying, “A wise man once said nothing.” Sometimes we work so hard to find the right words, “the scripting” for every situation. But maybe, as the Dalai Lama affirmed, “silence is sometimes the best answer.”

Kim Pedersen
Administrative Director
MarianJoy Rehabilitation Center

Announcing the Patient Advocacy Council

Joining our other boards and councils, this group will work collaboratively with the Institute staff to build programs and resources to elevate and support those working in Patient Advocate roles.

The Patient Advocacy Council represents a group of individuals committed to engaging with one another, sharing ideas and expanding the engagement of Patient Advocate Leaders in The Beryl Institute community.

View the Patient Advocacy Council

An Interview with a Past Ruth Ravch Award Recipient

Each year the Patient Advocacy Community presents the Ruth Ravich Patient Advocacy Award to recognize an individual for outstanding contributions, dedication, leadership and loyal service to patients and to the field of patient advocacy. We will soon announce the 2020 recipient and we encourage you to consider colleagues to nominate in the future.

In reflecting on the value and significance of the award, we decided to revisit some past recipients to learn how being a Ruth Ravich Award recipient impacted them personally and professionally. For this newsletter, we interviewed Anita Woodward, who received this honor in 2003.

Read Anita's Full Interview

Patient Advocacy Connection Call Recap

We recently hosted a Connection Call entitled, “How do you De-stress?”

It was a great opportunity to network with other PAC members and learn some tips and techniques for building resilience and managing the stress in our lives.

Many people registered for the call (which tells you how important this topic is) and yet only some of them ended up joining (which tells you how busy we all are!). The purpose of these calls is to allow members to connect with each other and have a discussion in a more informal and personal setting. The calls are not recorded; they are a safe space for members to be themselves and share with each other.

Please email Carol Santalucia to suggest a future connection call topic.

Ways to Acknowledge and Recognize Staff for Improving the Patient Experience

Positive feedback from patients and families is priceless. It validates the work and the care that was provided by the staff and it opens an opportunity to acknowledge and recognize those who contributed to a patient or family positive experience.

Here are some formal and informal ways to recognize your staff:

Say thank you often and mean it. It is a quick way to let your staff or colleagues know that you appreciate their efforts and welcome their actions.
Send a personal note or an email to the staff – a very meaningful way to convey confidence and gratitude for a job well done. It will boost morale and motivate staff to continue providing the best care possible.
Praise the employee or team in front of their peers and senior staff to encourage and inspire everyone to strive for reaching the department or program’s goals.
Dedicate a section of your organization newsletter to positive feedback from patients and highlight the staff who were involved in the care of those patients.
Take your team out for lunch as a way to honor and recognize their contributions and accomplishments.
Create an annual event to honor staff who embody the values and mission of the organization. The honorees should be nominated and selected by their peers.
Allow staff to attend special events or conferences as a way to support their professional development and keep them involved and engaged.
From time to time, make a big deal about how great your team is and give examples of specific feedback from patients to prove your point.
When planning ways to celebrate or recognize your staff, ask the staff themselves. It is a nice gesture and it might generate some healthy competition for ideas and incentives.

At the end of the day, saying thank you is the easiest and most powerful way to show how grateful you are about your staff performance and the role they play in providing a meaningful and positive experience to patients and families. Say it often, and say it loudly.

The bi-monthly Patient Advocacy Updates newsletter is authored directly by members of The Beryl Institute community. To contribute to a future publication contact one of the Patient Advocacy Council co-chairs.

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