Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/571945
12 PATIENT EXPERIENCE the staff that ultimately owns and follows-through on the initiatives," Ms. Rooke says. In the same vein, it is also important to value everyone's opinion equally regardless of their title. "ere was a respect for anybody's good idea," Dr. Neigher says. • Focus on action. A common question asked in the council is "What can we do tomorrow morning?" according to Ms. Rooke. Members identify barri- ers to what would prevent a project from moving forward and work actively to overcome them. "Everything we do is focused on the healing of patients, visitors, families and staff," says Ms. Rooke. Successful Programs In its four-year history, the Healing Culture Coun- cil has championed and spun off major initiatives that have drastically improved the patient — and staff and visitor — experience across the system. Just a sampling of the successful initiatives is highlighted below. 24/7 visiting hours. According to Dr. Neigher, this idea came from a president of one of the system's hospitals. "e first reaction was, 'We can't do that,'" he says. Ms. Rooke echoes Dr. Neigher in that the first reac- tion from many was that keeping the doors open 24/7 would be impossible, even though it would be what was best for patients and visitors. She says the council met a lot of resistance from groups like security and nursing. Aer meetings, discussions and an article penned by a member of the council, 24/7 visiting hours is now an Atlantic-wide policy, with the exception of some specialty units. "Even people who thought it was going to be terrible, they have embraced it," Ms. Rooke says. Soothing Paws pet therapy. e pet therapy pro- gram at Atlantic Health is an example of an existing program that the Healing Culture Council expanded despite initial pushback. "We had a lot of resistance from medical staff and infectious disease [profession- als], but this is one of those things we just did and asked for forgiveness later," Ms. Rooke says. And the program — which involves bringing in trained therapy dogs and bunnies that visit patients and staff — has been wildly successful. "It offers physical and emotional relief for all of the staff and patients," she says. Gratitude Graffiti. is experiment originated as part of the council's Year of Gratitude in 2014. As part of the initiative — which was launched with one of Atlantic Health System's local community part- ners — visitors, staff and patients wrote with washable markers on hospital windows expressing what they were grateful for. According to Ms. Rooke, responses varied from things like "Grateful that I am cancer free," "Grateful for my life," and "Grateful to my physicians and nurses." "e sentiments were so heart-felt and moving that for two months, we didn't want to wash the windows," she says. While 2014 was the Year of Gratitude, this year is the Year of Community, with its own initiatives each month to build community and promote a culture of healing. Since it was such a success last year, the sys- tem is bringing back Gratitude Graffiti in November of 2015. n