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After graduating from my doctoral program, I obtained a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in “environmental psychology.” Yes, I know it sounds like I was going to study the effects of climate change on mental health. In actuality, I was about to begin working with an architect.

Environmental psychology is a curious area of psychology that focuses on the interrelationship of environments and human behavior and mental processes. Thus, although studying the effects of nature, or climate ...

I’ve just returned from an inspiring two days in San Francisco. No, I wasn’t touring the wine country – although that doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Actually, I was attending the Press Ganey Regional Education Symposium. Before you roll your eyes at my use of the word “inspiring” to describe a symposium, let me explain. Did you know that the word inspire comes from the Latin verb spirare meaning “to breathe?” Inspiration literally ...

Most of us believe that when we pay more for a name brand product, we are getting more for our money. Some do this even knowing that some companies jack up prices to build a sense of exclusivity for the brand. In fact, marketing research shows that in the absence of evidence of higher quality, consumers still think, “It’s expensive, so it must be good.”

And yet, a casual glance at any issue of Consumer ...

Starting in October, scores from a government-mandated patient satisfaction survey will determine a portion of hospitals’ Medicare payments, and many organizations are worried about the financial fallout. A recent study published in the prestigious Archives of Internal Medicine posited that higher patient satisfaction scores correlate with greater use of hospital services and higher mortality. Some healthcare professionals have jumped on that assertion as proof that because good clinical treatment can be painful and traumatic, patient ...

Across the country, there is a shift from paying for volume of health care to paying for quality and efficiency. Patient-centered care – defined by the Institute of Medicine as “care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values” – is one of the key ingredients of care quality. Patient-centered care also can help lower medical costs and reduce the need for some health care services, according to research by ...

We at Press Ganey get a lot of questions from critical access hospital executives wanting to know what they can do to improve employee relations. It’s a key concern, especially because poor staff morale has a proven link with lower patient satisfaction scores, employee retention and recruitment. It also affects a hospital’s reputation in smaller communities, where people tend to know others who work in the facility.

I usually tell executives to focus on these ...

In my spare time I teach nursing leadership and management at Missouri State University. During a recent course I was helping the students review and prepare for an exam when I realized there was so much content that they really were unsure of where to start. We took a time out to review, and I’m happy to report that the students did very well on their exam.

It occurred to me that this is very ...

For many, culture has come to mean “the way we do things around here,” but that’s not quite right. More correctly put, it is “what we take for granted around here.” In other words, practices that are incorporated so deeply into a group’s way of life so as not to require conscious thought are parts of that group’s culture. For instance, no one questions why we speak English in America (although in “My Fair Lady,” ...

Last fall I conducted an alumni interview of a high school senior who was seeking early admission to my alma mater. Among a dozen or so standard questions, I asked, “So what do you want to be when you grow up?” Without hesitating, she said, “pediatric endocrinologist.” “Huh?” came my eloquent reply.

I have always been interested in how people choose – or end up in – their careers. For many, it is a series ...

Stage actors, movie stars and dancers have it. Musicians and rock stars have it. Newscasters and national lecturers have it. What do they have that health care providers could benefit from incorporating into their daily work? Stage presence! It’s not just actors, musicians and dancers who need it today. Doctors and nurses can use the tools of the theater to connect with patients, resulting in greater understanding of treatment and reduced anxiety.

Many in health ...