Ease the Way - Gebauer Patient Comfort Blog

Patient Comfort: 3 Small Things That Make a Big Impact

By: Jennifer Clark | On: November 1, 2016

Improving patient comfort is an important aspect of increasing patient satisfaction and HCAHPS scores, yet healthcare providers sometimes ignore the little things that affect comfort to focus on bigger issues. The soreness of a needle stick or an IV start may seem negligible to healthcare veterans, but the pain—even if it’s momentary—is a real concern for many patients.

While implementing patient comfort measures may only take a few minutes, the benefits tend to be long-term. For example, introducing small changes can pay big dividends when it comes to patient satisfaction survey results. Reducing patient discomfort and providing a better patient experience can be as easy as using one of these three techniques.

How Nurses Can Improve Interprofessional Collaboration

By: Bethany Nock | On: October 6, 2016

Providing the best hospital experience for patients requires coordination and communication between all providers involved in a patient’s care. This cooperative approach is referred to as interprofessional collaboration, and its goal is to help doctors and nurses work together to administer the highest quality care. Interprofessional collaboration fosters trust and respect between all healthcare providers and encourages the practice of treating nurses as equals with physicians.

In this post, we’ll discuss how nurses can collaborate across disciplines to ensure each healthcare professional’s expertise and experience are applied in the most effective way possible.

The 5 Qualities All Outstanding Nurse Leaders Possess

By: Bethany Nock | On: September 1, 2016

It takes remarkable resolve to become a nurse and extraordinary determination to become a nurse leader. Taking the next step and transforming into a superior nurse leader requires an impressive level of commitment.

Great nurse leaders are experts in multiple areas: people management, administration and, of course, patient care. What makes a truly exceptional nurse leader? Here are five qualities all outstanding nurse leaders have.

Do You Know These 7 Secrets to Patient-Centered Care?

By: Bethany Nock | On: August 30, 2016

We’re likely all familiar with the saying, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” One of the reasons a nurse is promoted to the position of nurse leader is because he or she knows how to strengthen each link in the chain and help every member of his or her team reach their full potential. When a team is running at full capacity and has the support of the nurse leader, they can focus on administering the best quality care to their patients.

View the SlideShare below to learn seven ways nurse leaders can empower their team to provide patient-centered care.

3 Cultural Congruence Mistakes that Can Hurt Patient Satisfaction

By: Julianne Filion | On: June 2, 2016

Although they’re following traditional American customer care best practices, your nursing staff may be unintentionally disrespectful to patients if they aren’t taking the patient’s cultural or religious background into account during interactions. Behaviors that are acceptable to some of your patients, such as shaking hands or making eye contact when speaking, may be seen in an entirely different way by patients from other cultures.

Emphasizing culturally congruent care—an approach that blends patient care with patient values, beliefs, lifestyle and traditions—can help every patient feel comfortable and increase your CAHPS scores. Culturally congruent care involves a personalized approach, rather than a cookie cutter method.

Avoiding the following errors will help you ensure patients are satisfied with the care they receive.