What Makes us Human Makes us Made for This: How Northwell Health is helping battle burnout with the Schwartz Rounds Program

Jan 18, 2019/in Featured Articles, Patient and Customer Experience, Wellness & Benefits /by

What Makes us Human Makes us Made for This: How Northwell Health is helping battle burnout with the Schwartz Rounds Program

The discussion of burnout is a hot topic in today’s career landscape and this is especially true in healthcare. Operating in a high-stress and emotional work environment, healthcare professionals give so much to patients. At the same time, patients need professionals who deliver high-quality, personalized experiences from the staff that treats them. At Northwell Health, this is what our Culture of Care is built upon. We spoke with Pam Klatman, Director of Social Work, Cohen Childrens Medical Center about what our Patient Experience Team is doing to find the balance between great patient care and avoiding caregiver burnout.

As Caregivers in a large hospital system, our Culture of Care speaks to the way we provide care and go above and beyond for our patients and their families. We are taught to ‘find the yes’ and always use ‘LAST’ and ‘CONNECT’” says Pam, “This is easy when we have patients and families who are willing to allow us in but many times we have families and patients, especially in hospitals, that are angry, upset or frustrated.”

Patients and their families come to us in their most vulnerable state and often that evokes all kinds of feelings for those who treat them. Those emotions can have a serious effect on a health care professional’s mental wellbeing as well as their quality of work which is why our patient experience team is focused on the mental wellbeing, burnout, and resilience of every one of our valued employees. So what are we doing about it? Enter The Schwartz Rounds.

“Schwartz Rounds provides a confidential space for all caregivers to talk about the way a patient and their family made the caregiver feel or how a particular situation made them feel,” explains Pam, “It is important that when we have these feelings we process them and work through them so that we are able to handle the next obstacle that comes our way.”

This system-wide program gives our employees a regularly scheduled time during their fast-paced work lives to openly and honestly discuss these issues, to feel supported, and to properly process. Through this sharing, caregivers are better able to make personal connections with patients and colleagues when they have greater insight into their own responses and feelings. It’s a place to be themselves and to take care of their own emotional needs so they can go and continue to deliver excellent care to our patients.

And Pam knows that the effect of the Schwartz Rounds program doesn’t end there, “by showing compassion to our colleagues and supporting one another we take care of each other and in turn, take care of ourselves. It is a way to ‘recharge our batteries’ and feel more equipped to handle the challenges of the coming days.”

At Northwell Health, we believe that when we can share our experiences with each other and thus become better caregivers, coworkers, and people. What makes us human, is what makes us Made for this.

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Meet our Truly Compassionate NP Sharon Hasfal

Jan 04, 2019/in Advance Clinical Providers, Featured Articles /by

Meet our Truly Compassionate NP Sharon Hasfal

This post is part of a blog series highlighting Northwell Health’s Advanced Clinical Providers (ACP). Each Northwell Health employee was nominated by their manager as an individual that exemplifies a central Northwell Health value. This month, we’re proud to introduce you to Sharon Hasfal DNP, ANP-BC., who is a “Truly Compassionate” member of our team. Here’s why:

It’s hard to find an Advanced Clinical Provider who provides more Truly Compassionate care than Sharon Hasfal. Sharon is a nurse practitioner (NP) in the medicine service line, where she plans and participates in many of the team building/engagement activities that help keep our team working well, together. But Sharon’s compassion goes way beyond the call of duty, and she does so with a humbling grace that shows, no matter the challenge, she’s Made for this.

Sharon was born to be an NP. Blessed with, as she claims, “the gift of gab,” she uses her skill to speak with her patients and takes time to let them know what their plan of care is for the day. She remembers a dedication that struck a chord in her career early on, “a colleague of mine on 3 DSU instilled into her nurses the importance of sitting with your patients and taking the time to speak with them and help them understand what is going on.” This lesson stuck with Sharon.

On her most rewarding day at Northwell Health, she joined the senior case manager and social worker of her hospital and medicine hospitalists to work with patients with an excessive length of stay. As a team, they took the time to speak with patients and their families to learn the ins and outs of what was affecting the patients’ hospitalizations. “I felt I was effective in helping patients make very difficult decisions like advanced directives or arrangements for a safe discharge to home. Good teamwork makes a big difference in providing good care for our patients and working with this team was great.” Speaking of volunteering, Sharon co-chairs every nurse practitioner event that takes place in her hospital. The planning is done on her own time and she usually comes in on her day off to allow herself to fully focus on the success of the celebration. Sharon says, “I enjoy being a nurse practitioner. I believe if you do not enjoy what you are doing you will not be able to be an advocate for your patients and their families.” Her goal is to celebrate nurse practitioners and ensure they have a fun, memorable time- and it’s definitely been accomplished! She’s organized a Hawaiian Luau, a Carnival, a Tea Party, a Beach Party, a Mardi Gras and many more! And that’s just her own hospital. Sharon also serves as the chairperson for the Nurse Practitioner Association of Long Island (NPALI) annual conference, a volunteer position where she organizes a full day educational conference for nurse practitioners throughout Long Island!

Sharon’s compassion is shown in how she cares for people in her workplace, in her community, and in the world. She volunteers for medical missions in underserved countries, using her vacation time and her own money to travel to the needed destination. She does not want or expect anything in return. Her reward is the knowledge that she was able to make a difference in someone’s life. It’s a job she loves. It’s a career she’s Made for. “As an NP I will continue to be true to my patients, their families, along with my peers,” said Sharon. “I will continue to keep my patients informed while they are in the hospital; take the opportunity to educate patients, their families and my colleagues both inpatient and outpatient; and my missionary work. It’s how I can make a difference as an NP.”

Are you Made for working with exceptional Advanced Clinical Providers like Sharon?

Explore your career opportunities at Northwell Health here.

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