Healthcare Leaders: Take Action and Express Appreciation When Rounding on Staff

This blog post continues our series of patient experience best practices from the HealthStream Engagement Institute. We regularly share information that demonstrates our understanding of the challenges faced by healthcare organizations and the solutions we have identified for improving the patient experience and patient and business outcomes.

Take Action

When rounding on staff, we suggest that you:

• Take notes/follow up on actions.
• Act on recognitions and opportunities for improvement.
• Set parameters for following up to identified needs; for example, “I will get back to you this afternoon with an answer.”
• Always appreciate the employees’ efforts, and thank them for any ideas or concerns shared.
• Reassure staff members that their voiced concerns will be kept in confidence.
• Build and share Stoplight Report.

Stoplight Report (Sample)

Express Reports

Here are some suggestion for ways you can close every effort to round on staff with an effort to express appreciation:

• Thank employees for their input.
• Confirm follow-up actions.
• Encourage access by letting staff know how to contact you.
• End with offering to provide additional assistance/help:

  » “Before I leave, what is the one action we should take to make this department/organization a better place to work?”

• Thank them for their hard work.
• Staff is inspired to loyalty.
• Customers are more likely to recommend the organization to others. (Quality is enhanced through validation of staff performance (hourly rounding, bedside shift reports, etc.).

About the Best Practice Series