Outcomes Rocket – Mary Beth Kingston: this mp4 video file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Saul Marquez:
Hey, everybody! Saul Marquez with the Outcomes Rocket. Welcome back to today’s podcast. Today is not just any podcast. Today is actually a very special podcast because I have an incredible leader with us, her name is Mary Beth. You know, Mary Beth Kingston is, let me give you an introduction. She really doesn’t need one, but she’s the, right, Mary Beth, I think a lot of people know you. She’s the Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Advocate Health, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and she was appointed to this role following the combination of Atrium Health and advocate Aurora Health combining. She served in a variety of clinical and administrative roles, including system nursing leadership, vice president of operations, and president of a healthcare consulting firm, too. Mary Beth is currently serving on the Board of Trustees of the American Hospital Association, where she chairs the Hospitals Against Violence Advisory Board, something that is near and dear to the work that she does. I’m excited to be kicking off a series with her where we’re going to be focused on awareness and solutions to workplace violence in healthcare. With that, Mary Beth, I want to welcome you to the podcast. Thanks for joining.
Mary Beth Kingston:
Thank you. I’m just thrilled to be here. I’m very excited about launching this series with you.
Saul Marquez:
Well, we’re very excited too, and so, let’s dig in. Mary Beth, you know, this topic of workplace violence in healthcare, why is it so important to you?
Mary Beth Kingston:
Well, you know, first of all, I have to go back to the first time we met. It was at a dinner, if you remember, and somehow we got talking about this topic, and you were stunned, and you said, workplace violence in healthcare? Never, what are you talking about? And so that was probably the first thing is just to say, you know, there’s not an awareness that this is an issue because it’s not, as you’ll learn over the series, it’s not a new issue at all. And so I’ve been in healthcare a long time and, you know, in leadership for a long time as well. And so, as the leader in healthcare, I’m really working with the team. And if the team’s not safe or doesn’t feel safe, then they’re not able to do their best work. And so this topic is important for all the people that work in healthcare, it’s important for patients, it’s important for those that even have disruptive behavior because many times there’s something that triggers that, and you know, the reality is this is not a heal, it doesn’t isn’t conducive to a healing environment at all. But there’s really a number of other pieces to it. One is that even aggressive and disruptive behavior, just general, you know, angriness and incivility, can escalate to violence, and that just impacts everyone. And so I ran an emergency room, I was a manager of an emergency room for a number of years, and I saw firsthand, and we’re talking 25 years ago, firsthand, how difficult this can be for people when they come to work and don’t have a safe environment. So it really impacts the people providing care, and it impacts the people receiving care, and again, impacts healing. So it’s just a really important topic for us to cover.
Saul Marquez:
Thank you, Mary Beth. And yeah, you know, I was shocked when you were sharing this with me. Thank you for reminding me of that, actually. I was like, you’ve got to be kidding me, this stuff happens. And awareness is a great place to start, you know, once we become aware of a challenge, we could start working towards a solution. And by the way, folks, I’ve had the opportunity to actually listen to the interviews as Mary Beth has been doing them. You’re going to love this series, there’s so much to learn. So, as we think about this six-part series that we’re doing, Mary Beth, what should the listeners expect out of it?
Mary Beth Kingston:
Yeah, well, I mean, I think continuing to talk about the impact of that. I think, you know, there’s so many reasons that we’re focusing on this, and so I want to start with that. We’re talking with Karen Garvey from Parkland in Texas, and she gives an overview, and she talks about the pervasiveness of violence in healthcare, and we do think it’s escalating. So learning a little bit more about what do we mean by workplace violence? It isn’t just physical violence. It also includes intimidation, threats, sexual harassment, for example, and even bullying incivility. It’s also very costly, you know, days away from work and turnover. And again, most importantly, it interferes with the care that patients deserve and that nurses and others want to give. And so when people are not focused on their safety, they are not able to provide the best care. And so, again, I just want to highlight that. So Karen will do an overview, we’re also going to talk about the difference between a threat assessment and a risk assessment. So you look at your facilities to determine if they’re safe and what other risks you might have, but also how you can proactively identify potential issues and what someone might be able to do to impact that. We’ll talk about bullying and incivility. And we have a fabulous leader, Renee Thompson, there with us, who is going to just talk about how important it is to create a healthy work environment from your coworkers as well as from patients and families who are there. We’ll also talk about support following trauma, and then we’re very fortunate to have Lynn Van Mouw, who’s now with Kaiser Permanente, and she will talk to us about some very specific things that we can do to impact and be proactive about preventing and mitigating the effects of workplace violence. And then we’ll also talk about just creating that culture of safety, because this isn’t about, oh, my gosh, we’ve got to put ourselves in a bubble, and it’s all about the healthcare provider and not about the patient, or it’s all about the patient, not about the healthcare provider. It’s about everybody. It’s about creating a safe environment for everyone that’s in healthcare, so we’ll cover all of those topics. So I’m really looking forward to speaking with everyone and having the listeners’ feedback as well.
Saul Marquez:
That’s amazing, Mary Beth, the lineup is just extraordinary. And you know, the nice thing about this all is, while you might be surprised or maybe you know about the challenges in workplace violence, the thing that I have found encouraging, and you will find encouraging is the work that’s already being done by leaders like Mary Beth and the people that she interviews, so that that provides hope for me, and I think for all of you as well, for what the future can look like if we address it. What would you say, Mary Beth, is the ultimate goal, the North Star, on this important topic and podcast series that we’re doing together?
Mary Beth Kingston:
Yeah, I think, you know, it depends on the listener in terms of what they do, but it really is a call to action. So if you’re a leader in healthcare, it’s critical that senior leaders in hospital and healthcare system boards have visibility to this issue and are truly committed to creating a safe environment for all, really knowing that patient safety and safety of those providing care is so tied together. And as leaders, we have to absolutely be committed to assessing the risks, ensuring reporting is in place, and using that data to implement strategies and measures to either prevent or minimize violence in the workplace. I think the other point is, we want to provide people with resources. They’re out there. OSHA, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has guidelines. The joint commission has guidelines. The American Hospital Association, where I serve on the board, has a wonderful framework and tons of resources. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and lastly, the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety. There are definitely things that can be put in place in terms of training, and assessment, and support. A one-size-fits-all may not be the answer, but the tools are there. And it really is just a call to action to leaders and everyone in healthcare to focus on this issue as a top priority.
Saul Marquez:
Wow, loud and clear, Mary Beth, we are hearing you and certainly want to take action to improve. Folks, this podcast series is going to be aired toward the end of October, and we’ll be posting new ones weekly as soon as we launch, so you’re not going to want to miss this. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast to Linkedin, and as those episodes come out, you’ll get them right into your podcast feed. Mary Beth, what closing thought would you like to leave the listeners with?
Mary Beth Kingston:
Yeah, really just that, you know, we hospitals, and it’s not just hospitals, every healthcare setting, to be honest with you, we know that people coming often are coming at a vulnerable time. So, there’s lots of things that we need to be aware of in terms of providing care and understanding people’s history and where they’re at. But we also have to recognize that it is not a safe place for them, and for our teammates, and for all of those working in healthcare. We’re just not going to be able to deliver the care in the way that it needs to be delivered and the way that people want to get care. So it’s important for all of us to address this issue and to do what we need to do, and that is provide a place of healing, a place of caring, and a very healthy work environment in which to do that.
Saul Marquez:
Well, Mary Beth, thank you. We’re so excited you teamed up with us to cover this very important topic. Folks, you’re going to get a lot of value out of listening, so tune in. That’s it for this kickoff episode. On the next one, you’re going to have Mary Beth as your host. So thank you all for tuning in, and thanks for joining us. Be sure to leave your comments on social as we share these episodes to drive the conversation to an end place. Mary Beth, thank you so much for doing this for us.
Mary Beth Kingston:
Thank you, Saul. And thanks to our listeners.
Saul Marquez:
Thanks, everybody, for tuning in. Take care.
Mary Beth Kingston:
Take care.
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