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”.

Think about a memorable experience in your life; one that you won’t ever forget. Odds are it's on one end of the experience spectrum either being a positive or negative experience. While there are many defining moments in our life that stem from an accident or luck, there are a plethora of opportunities to curate positive yet memorable experiences for the patients we care for in our healthcare organizations. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has touched everyone in some manner over the last 18 months, but those in the healthcare industry have not only been challenged in their personal lives but also in their professional lives in a unique way. Staff who were able to cope well, demonstrating tremendous resilience during 2020 and into early 2021, are not faring as well with the 2021 surge of the variant that is now sweeping across the land.

With 15 years of experience as a national nursing excellence consultant, I have had the opportunity to work with literally hundreds of healthcare leaders from over 200 facilities.  One thing that always stands out is the difference between those who actually ‘walk the talk’ and become role models for processes, professional behaviors, work ethic, attitude, and accountability, and those who don’t.  Successful leaders know that effective delegation is key to handle a broad scope of command by leading through systems.  But