KU News Release

Workshop shows health care workers how to discuss touchy subjects

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Problem-plagued organizations mired in mediocre results often share the same root cause: Perplexed employees who are not quite sure how to bring up touchy, controversial and complex issues and then resolve them. As part of a University of Kansas Medical Center Continuing Education Series, individuals can learn how to better communicate in the complex health care environment.

In collaboration with the Professional Nurse Educators Group conference Oct. 17-19, KU Continuing Nursing Education and KU HealthPartners Inc., are presenting two pre-conference workshops on Oct. 16 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kansas City, Mo., titled “Crucial Conversations” and “Crucial Confrontations.” This is the first time these programs have been publicly available in Kansas City.

“Crucial Conversations” teaches individuals and teams how to identify and discuss ideas willingly and effectively so that virtually everyone buys into the decisions, said Mary Gambino, director of nursing continuing education. She said this creates broad alignment, maximizes synergy and ensures commitment to the best ideas. When these skills are taught, they inevitably result in rapid and sustainable positive changes in what individuals care about the most.

“Crucial Confrontations” are high-stakes conversations that address accountability, violations and bad behaviors. This session is not about communication — it is about results. How people handle crucial confrontations is the best predictor of whether individuals and organizations prosper, plateau or decline in effectiveness, Gambino said.

Emily Moss, teaches business and nursing courses for the corporate training company VitalSmarts and will lead the pre-conference workshops. Moss’ style is to engage and encourage participants to learn and adopt valuable skills needed to hold crucial conversations. She will teach workshop participants how to create a culture where patient care and safety reign, Gambino said.

In 2005, VitalSmarts conducted a study called “Silence Kills: The Seven Crucial Conversations for Healthcare” for the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. The study revealed seven crucial conversations that people in health care frequently fail to hold that likely add to unacceptable error rates. These seven areas of concern are broken rules, mistakes, lack of support, incompetence, poor teamwork, disrespect and micromanagement.

According to the study, “…improvement in these seven crucial conversations could not only contribute to significant reductions in errors, but also to improvements in quality of care, reduction in nursing turnover and marked improvement in productivity.”

“There is growing evidence that there is a vital link between effective communication and patient safety,” said Caryl Goodyear-Bruch, clinical nurse specialist at KU Hospital and clinical associate professor at KU School of Allied Health.

As president of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, Bruch said, “according to the Joint Commission, ineffective communication between health care colleagues is a leading contributor to sentinel events, including medication errors.”

The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.

For information and registration, visit www.continuinged.ku.edu/kumc/pneg/preconferences.php or call toll-free 877-404-5823 or 785-864-5823.

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