Vistelar is a licensing, training, and consulting institute focused on helping organizations improve safety through a systematic approach to workplace conflict management. Our Unified Conflict Management System™ uses easy-to-learn and trauma-responsive tactics — based on over four decades of real-world experience and frequent enhancements — to empower teams to identify, prevent, and mitigate all types of conflict, from simple disputes to physical violence.
This content was created in part with the assistance of AI tools to support research and content drafting. It has been reviewed and edited by our team to ensure accuracy and alignment with our values. AI-generated content should not be considered a substitute for professional advice or human judgment.
"Calm down."
These two seemingly innocent words are among the most counterproductive phrases in healthcare communication. Uttered countless times daily in hospitals and clinics across the country, this phrase reliably achieves the opposite of its intended effect. Rather than reducing tension, it often escalates it, creating barriers between providers and patients and sometimes triggering...
“Creating Environments Incompatible With Violence" — Episode 30
Co-host: Marcus—former healthcare security director
Co-host: Natalie—nurse practitioner and clinical team leader
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts
In healthcare environments where lives hang in the balance and split-second decisions matter, psychological safety isn't a luxury—it's a necessity. Psychological safety, the belief that one can speak up without fear of punishment or humiliation, directly impacts clinical outcomes, staff wellbeing, and organizational performance. Yet despite its proven importance, this crucial element of...
Nearly every healthcare organization has a mission statement that includes values like respect, compassion, and dignity. Yet many of these same organizations struggle with entrenched patterns of disrespectful behavior, workplace bullying, and poor communication. The gap between aspirational language and daily reality reveals a fundamental truth: mission statements alone don't change behavior.
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Healthcare leaders shape more than strategy and operations. They model communication patterns that ripple throughout their organizations. The words leaders choose, and how they deliver them, can either escalate tensions or create environments where respectful communication thrives.
This leadership ripple effect is powerful yet often overlooked. When a physician snaps at a nurse during a...
Healthcare organizations increasingly emphasize empathy as a core value, investing in training programs that enhance understanding of patient and family experiences. While this focus on empathy represents important progress, a critical gap remains: empathy alone doesn't create the capability to respond effectively when that understanding is tested by difficult behaviors, escalating emotions, or...
“Blindsided by Crises? Are There Warning Signs or Do They Really Come “Out of the Blue”?” — Episode 29
Co-host: Marcus—former healthcare security director
Co-host: Natalie—nurse practitioner and clinical team leader
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts
"Treat everyone with respect" appears in virtually every healthcare organization's values statement. Yet this common aspiration often remains frustratingly abstract, with leaders struggling to translate this principle into concrete behaviors that can be taught, measured, and consistently reinforced.
The gap between aspirational respect and operational reality creates significant...
Healthcare organizations often treat workplace conflict as an interpersonal issue—something to be addressed through individual training, case-by-case interventions, or occasional policy reviews. This fragmented approach produces disappointing results because it fails to recognize a fundamental reality: Workplace conflict is a systemic issue requiring a systemic solution.
Just as healthcare has...
While healthcare organizations increasingly recognize and address patient and visitor aggression, a more insidious form of workplace violence often remains unacknowledged: lateral violence between colleagues. This phenomenon—characterized by behaviors like bullying, sabotage, exclusion, and verbal attacks among peers—creates significant psychological harm while undermining team function, patient...
