Promotion of staff resiliency and interdisciplinary team cohesion through two small-group narrative exchange models designed to facilitate patient- and family-centered care

Abstract

Facilitated narrative exchange and reflective practice (narrative medicine) sessions were offered at a large community academic Magnet medical center to promote staff education in the cultural changes needed to successfully implement Patient- and Family-Centered Care philosophies and 24/7 Family Presence policies. Our models included a unit-based, 60 minutes, bi-weekly small-group session format and a hospital-based, quarterly, 4-hour small-group-divided workshop format. In collaboration with the hospital ethnographer, we developed a survey tool and determined these sessions were well received by physicians, nurses, and ancillary staff members alike, regardless of their professional position or their length of time working in health care. Participants also reported an enhanced sense of personal resiliency, an enhanced sense of professional team cohesion and affiliation, and an enhanced ability to deliver high-quality care for their patients and families.