Healthcare organizations conduct regular safety drills to prepare for emergencies ranging from fires and natural disasters to active shooters and mass casualty events. These drills typically focus on logistics, protocols, and technical procedures—evacuating patients, establishing command centers, allocating resources, and coordinating with external agencies.

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...

Healthcare organizations universally include respect and dignity in their core values. Walk through any hospital lobby, and you'll likely see these words prominently displayed on mission statements and value posters. Yet for many institutions, there remains a significant gap between these aspirational statements and the lived experience of staff and patients.

The challenge isn't in writing...

Healthcare leaders track countless metrics – patient satisfaction scores, length of stay, readmission rates, and financial indicators. Yet one of the most critical metrics often remains unmeasured: safety-related behaviors and perceptions among staff and patients.

When we discuss safety in healthcare, conversations typically center around clinical outcomes and patient harm events. While these...

“Staying Safe Starts with Your Voice” — Episode 22

Co-host: Marcus—former healthcare security director

Co-host: Natalie—nurse practitioner and clinical team leader

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Healthcare environments inherently expose professionals to traumatic experiences—from workplace violence to patient deaths, from ethical dilemmas to system failures. This Mental Health Awareness Month offers an opportunity to recognize that creating psychologically healthy workplaces requires more than preventing harm; it necessitates building recovery-oriented cultures that help staff heal from...

In healthcare settings, the connection between communication and mental health is profound yet often overlooked. As we recognize Mental Health Awareness Month, it's time to acknowledge that how we speak to one another isn't just about information exchange—it's fundamentally about creating environments that either support or undermine psychological well-being.

Healthcare leaders face an unprecedented challenge: maintaining the mental well-being of frontline staff who regularly encounter high-stress situations, including the threat of workplace violence. As Mental Health Awareness Month reminds us, supporting the supporters isn't just good ethics—it's essential for organizational sustainability, patient care quality, and staff retention.

Healthcare professionals enter the field with a desire to help others, but many find themselves facing a reality far removed from this noble intention. In reality, they often become targets of verbal abuse, threats, and physical violence from the very people they're trying to help. While the physical dangers of workplace violence have started to receive significant attention, the psychological...

“Improve Your Institution's Responses to Mental Health Crises ” - Episode 21

Host: Brine Hamilton, CHPA

Guests: Joel Lashley and Gary Klugiewicz

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