The intersectionality between the patient experience and the employee experience makes it challenging for me to speak about the importance of one without addressing the impact of the other. Before joining a team of CVC leaders who traveled to Minnesota to attend a Patient and Family Centered Care conference, I believed that I always FOCUSED on the patient. I had their best interest at heart. During the conference, I was exposed to an entirely different view of the patient’s role in managing their care. After the conference, I shifted from believing that I or we (healthcare providers) knew what was best for the patient to understanding that patients know what is best for them. I (we) needed to listen more and perhaps talk less. This shift resulted in inviting patients and families to sit on our unit-based councils and engaging patients in helping us to identify tactics to provide safe care for all patients. I believe the idea patient experience centers on the care team involving the patient in every aspect of their care. Critical to the patient experience is nurse and physician communication.  So, if we fail to engage our patients in their care, we lose the vital voices that support the patient’s plan of care.

As the patient experience is essential to achieving our mission, the employee experience is equally as critical.  Employees who see themselves as valued members of their team may be more inclined to recommend Michigan Medicine as a great place to work. Focusing on employee engagement is not only critical to recruitment and retention but is also critical to the patient experience as well.  When employees know that they are valued, heard, and involved in decisions that impact the work that they do, I believe that this directly impacts the patient experience. Studies have shown that high nurse satisfaction positively affects fall reduction and other safety metrics.  Our HRO training has taught us that patients are safer in organizations where the employee experience is top of mind for leaders at all levels. Lastly, like the patients who experience an environment that centers around them, staff who have a similar experience are more likely to participate in decision making and provide safe care to the patients who place their lives in their hands.  There is no trade-off between the patient experience and the employee experience. I believe that both are critical to the health and success of our organization.

Crystal Mroz is a fighter. She has had three kidney transplants, survived a major car crash, and other serious health conditions. So when her husband told her might not get treatment for this colon cancer, she was shocked. She could not understand why he would not want to try fight for his life as she had. Using her experience, Crystal shares how she supported her husband.