Great Plains Quality Innovation Network – Nebraska hosted the 16th Annual Nebraska Healthcare Quality Forum on June 6, 2019 in La Vista. While the majority of the attendees were from Nebraska, healthcare professionals from neighboring states, including Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and South Dakota also attended.
“This was the best conference I have ever attended. I have been a nurse since 1987.”
– Quality Forum Attendee
Keynote presenter, Dr. K. Carrie Adair, Duke University Medical Center, offered insight on provider burnout and tools to help with meaningful connections. She offered three evidence-based tools, currently part of a research study, for individuals to access/utilize [listed below; all three tools are free accessible for all]:
1. One Good Chat – bit.ly/1goodchat
The One Good Chat exercise is a positive psychology tool which simply asks participants to reflect and log one conversation each day for up to 8 days, taking no longer than 5 minutes each day. The study team is interested in the specific effects of this exercise on stress, depression and burnout in healthcare workers.
2. Gratitude Letter – bit.ly/grattool
Grab a pen and paper and write a letter of appreciation to someone – anyone. Take five minutes to explain something they did, how it impacted you and the benefits you received. Whether you share the letter or not, it can have lasting impacts, increasing happiness while lowering depressing thoughts because focusing on benefits forces us to linger on positive thoughts.
3. Three Good Minutes – bit.ly/3goodminutes
Promoting positive thoughts and building resilience can be as easy as taking notes each day. This tool asks you to reflect on three things that happened during that day that went well and your role in the positive outcome.
The majority of the day showcased Nebraska healthcare providers sharing innovative approaches to care on a wide variety of topics, including medication safety, care coordination, diabetes management, quality reporting, healthcare infections and much more. Comments from attendees were extremely positive; several shared the breakout sessions options were very applicable and they would love to see sessions repeated so they did not have to choose.
The closing keynote, Brenda Elsagher, emphasized the importance of relationship building and the power of humor. She shared her personal story of her cancer diagnosis, treatment and the power of human connection in her care journey.
“I am always amazed, inspired and re-energized by the innovative ideas shared by healthcare providers and organizations during the breakout sessions. The Quality Forum affirms the significant commitment that Nebraska healthcare providers have toward patient safety and quality of care,” stated Krystal Hays, DNP, RN, CADDCT, RAC-CT; Great Plains QIN Quality Improvement Advisor.
Tammy Baumann, RN, LSSGB, CADDCT, CDP, Great Plains QIN Quality Improvement Advisor added, “We come together as different healthcare settings and learn from others in the state sharing best practices, resources and tools that work in real life settings. Seeing everyone connect or seeing old friends, no matter what setting…. What a great day it was!”
- Access presentation materials on the Quality Forum website.
This event would not be possible without the support of our co-sponsors, the commitment of our presenters and those who took the time to attend. It was a wonderful day and we look forward to continuing the success of this event next year.