‘Communicating with H.E.A.R.T.’

Responding to someone with a kind smile and a sympathetic ear can be all that is needed to turn a difficult situation into one that is remembered as positive. Empathetic communication helps patients, families and staff work together in a busy hospital. That’s why Kingston General Hospital is investing in a new training program called Communicate with H.E.A.R.T.

The program was created by the Cleveland Clinic and uses a common sense approach. It's a healthcare-focused model that will provide all hospital staff, along with volunteers and physicians, with the practical knowledge to help them address patient concerns. It will also help staff to communicate with patients, families, and co-workers with empathy.

“This program is a key part of our strategy to improve the patient experience and patient satisfaction,” says Eleanor Rivoire, Executive VP and Chief Nurse Executive. “We are excited to put this program into place because it will be an important part of the KGH Way moving forward.”

H.E.A.R.T. is an acronym that stands for;

• Hear the story,
• Empathize,
• Apologize,
• Respond to the problem,
• Thank the person.

The program has been used to help hospitals improve patient satisfaction and staff engagement across the U.S. and is now starting to be adopted by some Canadian hospitals.

While the Communicate with H.E.A.R.T. program was designed by the Cleveland Clinic for their own staff, KGH is going to customize it to reflect our unique culture and values.

Communication is one of the five standards at KGH for patient- and family-centred care, to go along with purposeful hourly rounding, the wearing of identification badges at chest level, filling out whiteboards in patient rooms and the holding of patient feedback forums.

Starting in late June, trainers from the Cleveland Clinic will be at KGH to train 40 members of our staff as trainers. Those 40 people will then have the tools to train other employees across the organization. The workshops will bring staff from all areas of the hospital together to learn and practice the skills in small groups, using real-life situations, role-playing, and discussion.

“We’ve looked at our patient feedback over the past five to 10 years and identified the top 10 concerns patients and families have expressed to us and incorporated them into the role playing part of the training,” says Katie Ireland, Patient Experience Specialist.

KGH has committed to training a minimum 500 staff by the end of March 2015 with an aim to have all staff trained before December 2016. The goal is to eventually have everyone who works, learns or volunteers at KGH receive the H.E.A.R.T. training.