“All my leaders are in staffing right now”, a Nobl partner shared with me on a recent call. “We’re struggling to find the time to engage and connect.” Sentiments similar to these can be heard more and more across healthcare organizations, with leaders stretched thinner than ever before.  But with this pressure comes burnout, both for leaders and staff, and disengagement.

As more and more healthcare facilities adopt the principles of lean methodology to inform quality care improvement, it is important for all stakeholders to understand and use these tools within the realm of patient experience, not just quality and safety and how to improve patient care. True empowerment begins when frontline governance leaders are also included, especially if they are expected to be part of nurse leader rounding. 

Leadership rounding on patients is a common tactic in acute care hospitals as a way for leadership to understand their patients’ experiences as they are happening and to positively influence the perception of their care.

After working at a large patient satisfaction survey company, I have heard my fair share of patient stories. Although some stories were enthusiastic praises of the facility and the staff, more often, they were descriptions of terrible patient experiences. From losing an item at the hospital and never receiving follow-up to horror stories of poor quality of care. I’ve heard it all. A patient, who had filed a complaint with the hospital about a missing wallet, told me that “they [the hospital] never cared enough to look”.